The National Museum of Lithuania (LNM), together with the Faculty of History of Vilnius University and media partner 15min.lt, invites everyone to begin another season of informal history studies. The 2025–2026 lecture series “History for the City and the World” turns its gaze toward people – their fates and choices that not only shaped their own era but continue to influence our historical memory today.
The theme of the season is “Newly Interpreted Personalities.”
All are welcome to attend expert lectures free of charge at the LNM Old Arsenal Event Hall (Arsenalo g. 3, Vilnius).

History through personalities

This season, history experts will invite audiences to explore individuals from different periods and social strata – from rulers and diplomats to teachers, partisans, and artists. Their stories will help us understand how personal choices shaped historical epochs and how human biographies serve as a key to comprehending history itself.

According to the lecture series host, Dr. Norbertas Černiauskas, Vice-Dean for Academic Affairs and International Relations at Vilnius University’s Faculty of History, this focus is deliberate:

“In the 2025–2026 lecture series, we will discuss newly interpreted biographies of various people. By talking about specific individuals, we can grasp the real passage of time, its drama, and uniqueness. Fully understanding a person’s choices and thoughts is an endless and probably unattainable task. Besides, would it really be easy to live in a world where the principles behind human action, thought, kindness, or wrongdoing were fully known? A person’s uniqueness is much more intriguing than schematic processes and laws where people play only the roles assigned to them by time. History and histories are about people—because only they experience the flow of time, write, and tell about the past… and forget,” says Dr. Černiauskas, one of the project organizers.

The season opens with a lecture by the Rector of Vilnius University

The lecture series “History for the City and the World” is an ongoing project of the National Museum of Lithuania and Vilnius University’s Faculty of History. Through this collaboration, museum professionals bring to light exhibits that often go unnoticed, while historians highlight topics found on the margins of mainstream history.

Everyone is invited to attend the lectures in person at the LNM Old Arsenal Event Hall (Arsenalo g. 3, Vilnius) or watch the recordings published on 15min.lt and the National Museum of Lithuania’s YouTube channel.

The first lecture will take place on September 25, 2025, at 6:00 p.m.
It will be delivered by Prof. Dr. Rimvydas Petrauskas, Rector of Vilnius University, and dedicated to one of the most prominent figures in Lithuanian history – Vytautas the Great, whose name symbolizes both the might of the state and the bitterness of unfulfilled ambitions.
During the event, Eduardas Remecas, senior curator of LNM’s numismatics collection, will present a unique early 15th-century coin of Vytautas.

2025–2026 Lecture Series Program

September 25, 2025, 6:00 p.m. – Prof. Dr. Rimvydas Petrauskas, “Vytautas Alexander: A Ruler in the Face of Historical Transformations.”

October 9, 2025, 6:00 p.m. – Dr. Monika Šipelytė, “Princess Gabrielė Radvilaitė’s Activities in Geneva and Lithuania.”

October 23, 2025, 6:00 p.m. – Dr. Laurynas Kurila, “The Prince of Taurapilis and His Retinue – Nomads of the Migration Period?”

November 6, 2025, 6:00 p.m. – Assist. Dr. Marius Ėmužis, “‘We Must Make Maironis Serve Us Too.’ Was Antanas Sniečkus a National Communist?”

November 20, 2025, 6:00 p.m. – Doctoral candidate Enrika Kripienė, “Partisan Juozas Šibaila.”

December 4, 2025, 6:00 p.m. – Prof. Dr. (HP) Albinas Kuncevičius, “Three Giants of Lithuanian Archaeology and Their Contribution to the Study of Vilnius.”

January 15, 2026, 6:00 p.m. – Severija Subačiūtė, Lecture on Balys Gajauskas.

January 29, 2026, 6:00 p.m. – Augustė Burinskaitė, “The Interwar Bird – Halina Kairiūkštytė.”

February 12, 2026, 6:00 p.m. – Prof. Dr. Arūnas Streikus, “Mykolas Sopoćko.”

February 26, 2026, 6:00 p.m. – Emilija Jasiulevičiūtė, “In the Rhythm of Expressive Dance: The Story of Danutė Nasvytytė.”

March 12, 2026, 6:00 p.m. – Dr. Inga Leonavičiūtė, “Tauro St. 10: A Collective Biography of the Residents.”

March 26, 2026, 6:00 p.m. – Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aurelijus Gieda, “Augustinas Voldemaras.”

April 9, 2026, 6:00 p.m. – Emilija Blockutė, “In Dialogue with the West: The Case of Alfonsas Nyka-Niliūnas.”

April 23, 2026, 6:00 p.m. – Assist. Dr. Antanas Terleckas, “The (Auto)biographical Narrative of the Resistance Fighter Antanas Terleckas: The School of Caesar, Napoleon, and Churchill?”

For more information about the lectures, visit the National Museum of Lithuania’s website: www.lnm.lt