Lithuanian encyclopedias

Lithuanian encyclopedias are encyclopedias published in the Lithuanian language or encyclopedias about Lithuania and Lithuania-related topics. The first known attempt to create a Lithuanian encyclopedia was in 1883, when Jonas Jacevičius failed to get permission from the Tsarist authorities for such a publication. Printing in the Lithuanian language was banned in the country from 1866 to 1904 (see Knygnešiai). Several general Lithuanian encyclopedias were published afterwards: one in independent Lithuania in the 1930s (interrupted by World War II and never completed), two in the United States, three in the Lithuanian SSR, and one that has been underway since 2001 in independent Lithuania. As of 2007, 11 volumes of this projected 20-volume "Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija" ("Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia") or "VLE" had been published.

Major encyclopedias

Independent Lithuania (1918-1944)

The path to creating the first Lithuanian encyclopedia, "Lietuviškoji enciklopedija", was complicated. In 1910, Antanas Olšauskas, a Lithuanian emigrant in Chicago, Illinois, started to assemble an editorial team, but financial constraints and disagreements among the editors resulted in the abandonment of the project in 1912. After the declaration of independence of Lithuania in 1918, two initiatives were born in 1924. One, by the publishing house Švyturys (English: "The Lighthouse"), sought to publish a general encyclopedia; the other, by the publishing house Kultūra (English: "Culture"), in Šiauliai, sought to publish an encyclopedia dedicated to Lithuania and Lithuania-related topics. However, both initiatives failed due to financial hardships. In 1929, "Spaudos Fondas" (English: " The Press Foundation") and "Lietuvių Katalikų Mokslo Akademija" (English: The Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Sciences) separately initiated encyclopedic projects. They finally agreed to cooperate only in 1931, and the first booklet came out on October 1, 1931. Vaclovas Biržiška was appointed editor-in-chief. Many difficulties ensued, but the booklets finally began monthly publication, and approached the status of a periodic scientific journal. Twelve booklets would eventually be combined into one volume. The first volume, containing some 5,000 articles and 700 illustrations, appeared in 1933. Nine volumes were published - up to the letter "J" - and the tenth was underway when in 1944, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania, and its printing was halted. The encyclopedia was never finished.

Encyclopedias published by Lithuanian emigrants

The idea of a Lithuanian encyclopedia was revived in the United States by Lithuanian emigrants. Juozas Kapočius organized the editorial team and Vaclovas Biržiška again became the chief editor. Between 1953 and 1966, they published the 35-volume "Lietuvių enciklopedija" (often nicknamed " The Boston Encyclopedia" because it was published in Boston, Massachusetts) in the Lithuanian language. Two volumes of supplements and addenda were published in 1969 and in 1985. It is often believed that they were continuing the unfinished work of their first encyclopedia begun in their homeland. The undertaking was especially difficult because most of their materials and sources were left behind in Lithuania and were now unavailable - a result of the iron curtain. However, it remains the largest Lithuanian encyclopedia ever printed. Between 1970 and 1978, the same group published the six-volume Encyclopedia Lituanica, an English-language encyclopedia on Lithuania and Lithuania-related topics. It remains the most comprehensive work on Lithuania in English.

oviet Lithuania (1945-1990)

In Lithuania, Soviet authorities printed a three-volume "Mažoji lietuviškoji tarybinė enciklopedija" (English: "Concise Soviet Lithuanian Encyclopedia") between 1966 and 1971; that is, after the Boston Encyclopedia was already completed. It covered only Lithuania-related topics. The 12-volume (plus one volume of supplements) "Lietuviškoji tarybinė enciklopedija" (or "LTE") was published between 1976 and 1985. It is often called "The Red One" because of its distinct cover colors. It is still valuable for scientific topics, but the social science articles were distorted to conform to Soviet propaganda (it portrayed western countries as bourgeois dictatorships and praised the Soviet Union for its great achievements). Much space was given to Marxism-Leninism and the Communist Party, and it disregarded many "inconvenient" topics of Lithuanian history. Between 1985 and 1988, the four-volume "Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedia" (or "TLE"), dealing with only Lithuania-related topics, was published. It closely followed the lead of LTE. Its last volume displayed signs of the intellectual freedom that arose in the 1980s during the Glasnost movement in Russia and the Sąjūdis movement in Lithuania.

Independent Lithuania (since 1990)

Since 2001, the Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing Institute (Lithuanian: "Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas"), based in Vilnius, has been publishing "Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija" or "VLE" (English: "Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia"). The work is projected for completion between 2010 and 2012. Each of the planned twenty volumes will contain about 800 pages; there will be a total of about 115,000 articles and 24,000 illustrations. About 20% to 25% of its content is devoted to Lithuanian matters. As of summer 2007, 11 volumes had been published. The 12th volume is scheduled for publication in January 2008. (ISBN 5-420-01486-6).

ee also

*Lithuanian dictionaries

References

* Antanas Klimas, [http://www.lituanus.org/1979/79_4_01.htm Two Lithuanian Encyclopedias completed] , Lituanus: Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Sciences 25(4), Winter 1979. ISSN 0024-5089. Accessed August 30, 2006.
* Vaclovas Biržiška (ed.), "Lietuviškoji enciklopedija", Preface, Vol. 1, pages V-VII, Spaudos Fondas: 1933.
* Jonas Zinkus, et al. (ed.), "Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedia", Afterword, Vol. 4, page 702, Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija: 1988.
* [http://www.meli.lt/cgi-bin/index.cgi Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija: Apie] , Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing Institute. Accessed August 30, 2006.
* [http://www.meli.lt/enabout.html Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing Institute - official website] . Accessed August 24, 2007.