Vilnius University
In 1579, King Stephen Báthory granted a charter to create the Vilnius Academy. This institution became the third oldest university in the Polish, Lithuanian Commonwealth. It stood as the sole university within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for centuries. The first students enrolled into the academy in 1570 before the official founding. A library at the college was established in that same year. Sigismund II Augustus donated 2500 books to the new college. In its first year of existence, the college enrolled 160 students. The curriculum was taught entirely in Latin. The first rector of the academy was Piotr Skarga. He invited many scientists from various parts of Europe and expanded the library. Notable sponsors included Bishop Walerian Protasewicz and Kazimierz Lew Sapieha. Lithuanians comprised about one-third of the students by 1586. At that time, there were circa 700 students total. Others were Germans, Poles, Swedes, and even Hungarians. Duke Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł and Elżbieta Ogińska sponsored a printing house for the academy in 1575. It issued books in Latin and Polish. The first surviving book in Lithuanian printed in the region appeared in 1595. It was titled Kathechismas, arba Mokslas kiekvienam krikščioniui privalus. Jesuit Baltasarus Hostovinus visited Lithuania in 1569. He remarked that no city in the North rivals Vilnius in reputation and livability.
Tsar Nicholas I closed the university on the 1st of May 1832 following the November Uprising. This event occurred after the failure of the uprising between 1830 and 1831. Two faculties were turned into separate schools: the Medical and Surgical Academy and the Roman Catholic Academy. Soon they were closed as well. The Medical faculty became part of the University of Kyiv. The theological academy moved to Saint Petersburg before becoming the Catholic University of Lublin. Repression included banning the Polish and Lithuanian languages. All education in those languages was halted. By 1823, the student population exceeded that of Oxford University. A number of students, including poet Adam Mickiewicz, were arrested in 1823 for conspiracy against the tsar. They belonged to a group called Filomaci. During the 1831 uprising, many University students joined the rebels. The first attempts to reestablish a scientific institution in Vilnius came after the 1905 revolution. On the 22nd of October 1906, the Society of Friends of Science in Wilno was created by the Polish intelligentsia. Both this society and the Higher Scientific Courses were soon closed by German officials during World War I.
Józef Piłsudski authorized the opening of Stephan Bathory University on the 28th of August 1919. The university quickly recovered and gained international prestige. Notable scientists such as Władysław Tatarkiewicz, Marian Zdziechowski, and Henryk Niewodniczański worked there. Future Nobel Prize winner Czesław Miłosz studied at the university. Its library contained 600,000 volumes. Despite being the smallest and most poorly financed Polish university, it played a significant role. In 1945, most professors, staff, and students relocated to Poland. They initiated the foundation of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. Anti-Semitism increased during the 1930s. A system of ghetto benches required Jewish students to sit in separate areas. Violence erupted; the university was closed for two weeks during January 1937. In February, Jewish students were denied entrance to its grounds. Rector Władysław Marian Jakowicki resigned his position in protest over the introduction of the ghetto benches. Five-fourteen Jewish students were expelled but allowed to return under a compromise. Between September 1939 and July 1941, the Soviets arrested and deported nineteen Polish faculty members. Nine perished: Professors Stanisław Cywinski, Władysław Marian Jakowicki, Jan Kempisty, Józef Marcinkiewicz, Tadeusz Kolaczyński, Piotr Oficjalski, Włodzimierz Godłowski, Konstanty Pietkiewicz, and Konstanty Sokol-Sokolowski.
The Sovietisation of Vilnius University started in the summer of 1940. It continued after World War II. The arrests of lecturers started at the beginning of 1945 and continued until Stalin's death. Many professors were dismissed on political grounds. During the post-Stalin period, the classical Vilnius University was converted into a Soviet university. In 1955, it was awarded the name of the Vilnius Order of the Red Banner of Labour State University of Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas. There were no more mass repressions against the university community during this time. However, separate cases of political persecution still occurred. One case instituted against the Department of Lithuanian Literature lasted from 1958 to 1961. Four teachers from the department were forced to leave the university. On the 12th of June 1990, the Supreme Council of Lithuania-Restoration Seimas approved the Statute of Vilnius University. This declared the autonomy of the university. The Law on Science and Studies granted this autonomy in 1991. In 1991, the university signed the Great Charter of European Universities. Study programmes were reorganised into three cycles: Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral levels.
Professor Virginijus Šikšnys is recognized for his contributions to CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology. He serves as Head of the Department of Protein, DNA Interactions at the Institute of Biotechnology. Dr. Linas Mažutis developed microfluidic technologies at the Life Sciences Centre. He co-founded Platelet BioGenesis, an allogeneic cell therapy company. Another start-up he founded is Droplet Genomics. That company attracted an investment of €1 million one year ago. The EMBL Partnership Institute was established in the Life Sciences Centre based on an agreement concluded in 2020. Its goal is to develop genome editing research applications. From 2021, the Business School coordinates Global Entrepreneurship Monitoring in Lithuania. GEM is the world's largest survey of entrepreneurship conducted since 1999. The university participates in international infrastructures including CERN and ELI. It offers over 450 customizable R&D services. More than 3,000 research publications are published annually. Over 400 research projects are implemented each year. The university has over 160 research teams acknowledged across the globe. In 2004, Professor Valentina Dagienė established BEBRAS, an informatics challenge implemented in over 60 countries.
Vilnius University has fifteen faculties with one located in Kaunas and another in Šiauliai. The historical campus in the old town hosts History, Philology, and Philosophy faculties. The library founded in 1570 resides there too. The modern campus on Saulėtekio Avenue houses Economics, Physics, Communications, Law, and the Business School. The Life Sciences Centre started operating in 2016 with laboratories. Scholarly Communication and Information Centre and student dormitories are also located here. Five-Storey and Sixteen-Storey Dormitory Complexes accommodate students from various faculties. For more than 55 years, the Kaunas Faculty has been situated near the Aleksotas bridge. Its premises date to the 16th and 17th centuries. The Šiauliai Academy began as a Teacher Institute in 1948. It merged with a faculty of Kaunas Technological University in 1997. As of the 1st of January 2021, it became an academic unit of Vilnius University. The Central Library holds over five million documents. About 45 thousand users register annually. Over 200 people work at the library. The Botanical Garden was arranged in 1781-1799 in the courtyard of Collegium Medicum. It moved four times before settling in Kairėnai Manor House in 1974.
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Common questions
When was Vilnius University founded and who granted the charter?
King Stephen Báthory granted a charter to create the Vilnius Academy in 1579. The first students enrolled into the academy in 1570 before the official founding.
Who closed Vilnius University on the 1st of May 1832 and why?
Tsar Nicholas I closed the university on the 1st of May 1832 following the November Uprising. This event occurred after the failure of the uprising between 1830 and 1831.
What date did Józef Piłsudski authorize the opening of Stephan Bathory University?
Józef Piłsudski authorized the opening of Stephan Bathory University on the 28th of August 1919. The university quickly recovered and gained international prestige.
Which professor from Vilnius University contributed to CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology?
Professor Virginijus Šikšnys is recognized for his contributions to CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology. He serves as Head of the Department of Protein, DNA Interactions at the Institute of Biotechnology.
When was the Statute of Vilnius University approved by the Supreme Council of Lithuania-Restoration Seimas?
On the 12th of June 1990, the Supreme Council of Lithuania-Restoration Seimas approved the Statute of Vilnius University. This declared the autonomy of the university.