For the fourth consecutive year, Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) invites everyone to actively explore the Lithuanian diaspora throughout October – its history, the activities of its communities and Lithuanian schools, as well as the work of diaspora writers, film makers, artists, etc. “October – Lithuanian Diaspora Month” is a series of events that bring together initiatives related to the Lithuanian diaspora from VMU, other organizations, institutions, and individual representatives of science and the arts.

This year, the scope of October’s event series is unusually broad, beginning at the end of September with events dedicated to the diaspora activist Liūtas Mockūnas and concluding in early November with a scientific conference commemorating the 30th anniversary of the VMU Lithuanian Emigration Institute.

Autumn Anniversaries

On September 30th of this year, Liūtas Mockūnas would have celebrated his 90th birthday. After Lithuania regained independence, he and his wife, Francoise Mockūnas-Puzyna, became patrons of Lithuanian scholars, athletes, and cultural figures coming to Chicago for internships. To mark this occasion, two events in memory of L. Mockūnas are being organized at the university: a scientific conference titled “Rebels on the Rebel Ship” on September 27th, and a memorial afternoon in the Mockūnas space in Vilnius on September 30th, his birthday.

Additionally, the VMU Lithuanian Diaspora Institute, which began its activities 30 years ago, will celebrate this anniversary with a scientific conference on November 8th titled “Research on the Lithuanian Diaspora: Expanding Horizons and Future Challenges.”

These events invite for discussions about the people and works that laid a strong foundation for today’s understanding of the Lithuanian diaspora, its historical and contemporary research, thereby expanding the scope of the October events series.

Events in Lithuania and the Diaspora

This year, the program of “October – Lithuanian Diaspora Month” includes four documentary films about the history of the Lithuanian diaspora and cultural figures in exile, three of which have never been shown in Lithuania before. There will also be five lectures on the history of Lithuanian schools abroad, exile literature, the history of the Lithuanian diaspora, and migration processes, as well as book presentations by Laima Vincė and Ramūnas Čičelis, and meetings with Venezuelan Lithuanian Gabriel Orentas and diaspora history researcher Prof. Egidijus Aleksandravičius.

This year’s diaspora month guests include Lithuanians from Germany, who are organizing a presentation of the book “Reborn Melody” by I. Buivydaitė and J. Herlyn, the initiative “Reading in Lithuanian,” and a celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Munich Lithuanian community. The program will culminate with a competition titled “Turning the Diaspora into Verse,” dedicated to students of Lithuanian schools abroad and schools in Lithuania, focused on creating acronyms related to the Lithuanian diaspora.

The aim of October’s event series is to cultivate and strengthen the understanding that the Lithuanian diaspora is part of Lithuania.

Organizers: VMU World Lithuanian University

Event partners: VMU Lithuanian Emigration Institute, President Valdas Adamkus Library-Museum, Association for Getting to Know World Lithuanians, Martynas Mažvydas National Library, Ąžuolynas Library.