Lithuanian encyclopedias
Lithuanian encyclopedias are encyclopedias published in the Lithuanian language or encyclopedias describing Lithuania or subjects related to Lithuania. Various more important Lithuanian universal encyclopedias have appeared to this day , one from the 1930s in independent Lithuania, which was not completed because of the war, two in the United States , three in the Lithuanian SSR , and another is currently being developed. The first known attempt at a Lithuanian encyclopedia dates back to 1883, when the Tsarist authorities refused Jonas Jacevičius permission to publish it.
More important encyclopedias
Independent Lithuania (1918–1944)
The road to the first Lithuanian encyclopedia, Lietuviškoji enciklopedija , was long and difficult. In 1910, Antanas Olšauskas, a Lithuanian émigré in Chicago , began putting together a team of editors, but financial difficulties and disagreements between the editors led to the project's failure in 1912. Soon after the declaration of independence in 1918, two new forays were made in 1924. On the one hand, the publishing house Švyturys (German: lighthouse ) wanted to publish a general encyclopedia , on the other hand the publishing house Kultūra in Šiauliai was planning an encyclopedia on Lithuania and related topics. Both initiatives failed due to funding. In 1929, Spaudos Fondas (German: Pressefonds ) and Lietuvių Katalikų Mokslo Akademija (German: Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Sciences ) tackled the publication of the first encyclopedia independently of one another. It was not until 1931 that they decided to team up and on October 1, 1931, they published the first delivery of Lietuviškoji enciklopedija . Vaclovas Biržiška was appointed managing editor. After a bumpy start, a delivery came out every month, the type of publication resembling that of a periodical scientific journal. Twelve individual deliveries made up one volume of the encyclopedia. The first volume with around 5000 articles and 700 illustrations was completed in 1933. Nine more volumes followed and the tenth (up to the letter J ) was on the way when the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1944 brought printing to a standstill. This encyclopedia was never completed.
Lithuanians abroad
The idea of a Lithuanian encyclopedia was revived in the United States after the war . Juozas Kapočius organized an editorial team in Boston , Massachusetts , and Vaclovas Biržiška became its director. 1953 to 1966 they published 35 volumes of the Lietuvių enciklopedija (often named after their place of publication Boston Encyclopedia ) in Lithuanian. Two volumes of additions and supplements followed in 1969 and 1985. It is often assumed that they continued the work of the aborted first encyclopedia. The operation was particularly difficult as most of the sources had remained in Lithuania and were now behind the Iron Curtain . However, the encyclopedia remains the largest of the Lithuanian encyclopedias to this day. 1970 to 1978 the same group of people published the six-volume English-language Encyclopedia Lituanica on Lithuania and related topics. This in turn is the most comprehensive work on Lithuania in English to date.
Lithuanian SSR (1945–1990)
In Soviet Lithuania, the three-volume Mažoji lietuviškoji tarybinė enciklopedija (German: Short Lithuanian-Soviet Encyclopedia ) was only published from 1966 to 1971, i.e. only after the Boston Encyclopedia, which dealt exclusively with Lithuania-related topics. From 1976 to 1985 the twelve-volume (plus a supplement) Lietuviškoji tarybinė enciklopedija (or LTE ) was published. It is often called the red because of its cover color and political orientation . It is still valuable for general scientific purposes, while the presentation of social science topics has been subjected to Soviet propaganda. While much attention has been paid to Marxism-Leninism and the Communist Party , "more uncomfortable" aspects of Lithuanian history have been ignored. From 1985 to 1988 the four-volume Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedija (or TLE ), which dealt only with topics related to Lithuania, was published. It initially followed the example of LTE very closely. The last volume, on the other hand, showed a greater openness in dealing with historical facts, which became possible as a result of less strict censorship under the influence of glasnost and the Sąjūdis movement.
Independent Lithuania (since 1990)
Since 2001, Mokslo ir enciklopedijų Leidybos institutas (German: Wissenschafts- und Enzyklopädie-Verlags-Institut - the direct successor of the Mosklas publishing house was published in the LTE) the Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (abbreviated: VLE , German: General Lithuanian Enzyklopädie ). The completion of the work is planned for 2010 to 2012. The estimate is 115,000 articles and 24,000 illustrations in 20 volumes of around 800 pages each. 20-25 percent of the content should be devoted to Lithuanian topics. 17 volumes had already been published by summer 2010.
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- Antanas Klima: Two Lithuanian Encyclopedias completed. In: Lituanus. Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Sciences. 25 (4), Winter 1979, ISSN 0024-5089 . (viewed on August 30, 2006, English)
- Vaclovas Biržiška (Ed.): Lietuviškoji enciklopedija. Spaudos Fondas, 1933, pp. 5-8. (Preface, Volume 1)
- Jonas Zinkus et al. (Ed.): Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedia. Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija, 1988, p. 702. (Afterword, Volume 4)
- Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija: Apie. Science & Encyclopaedia Publishing Institute. (viewed October 19, 2015)