Interesting exhibit of the month

As is the case today, in the past, a significant number of Lithuanian intellectuals and public figures obtained their academic education at foreign universities. One such university was the University of Berlin, founded in 1809 (and opened in 1810) on the initiative of Frederick William III, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, and Friedrich Ernst Daniel Schleiermacher, and known until 1945 as the Friedrich Wilhelm University. The renowned Lithuanian historian, professor, and Doctor of Science Konstantinas Avižonis studied at this university from 1929 to 1932. Here he defended his doctoral dissertation, “The Emergence and Development of the Lithuanian Nobility until the Union of Lithuania and Poland in 1385.”

Konstantinas Avižonis was born on January 29, 1909, in Žagarė, into an intellectual family—his father was Petras Avižonis, an ophthalmologist and cultural figure, rector of Vytautas Magnus University, and his mother was Sofija Gruzdytė, a doctor of noble descent. After graduating from Aušros Gymnasium, he studied at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Lithuania from 1927 to 1929. After these studies, he left to continue his studies at Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin. After graduating, he returned to Lithuania and completed his studies at Vytautas Magnus University in 1933, submitting a dissertation written in German as his thesis.

From 1934, Konstantinas Avižonis taught history, gave lessons, led courses, and carried out scientific work at various educational institutions: the Trade Institute in Klaipėda, Aušros Gymnasium, the Institute of Lithuanian Studies in Kaunas, and Vilnius University. Until 1944, he served as editor of scientific works at the Institute of History. In the same year, he moved to Germany, where he taught Lithuanian and Eastern European history at the Baltic University.
From 1949, while living in the US, he continued his teaching career at various institutions of higher education, including the University of Kansas and Elon College. Konstantinas Avižonis died in the US in 1969. In 1998, his remains were transferred to Lithuania and buried in the Petrašiūnai Cemetery.

Information prepared by Dalia Galminienė, curator of museum activities at the Lithuanian Education Museum