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The paper overviews the history of the privately owned Kaunas Women's Arts and Crafts School (1927-1940), established by the craftswoman Stasė Gudonytė-Biziokienė (1896-1943). Her work is analysed in the context of the interwar arts and crafts education. The school was continuing the tradition of women's crafts education that formed in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Being part of the interwar elite, Gudonytė-Bizokienė, was considered one of the founders of Lithuanian high fashion. During the period of 1935-1936, the school introduced three additional courses: hat making, women's fashion, and children's clothing design and tailoring. The paper uses archival material and memories of family members to present the biography of Gudonytė-Bizokienė. The paper also describes the school with its educational aims, structure, institutional reforms of 1935, and its curriculum. The paper overviews the remaining samples of the students' work that reflect the interwar ideals of a cosy home space, and feature a mix of art deco and modernised folk style. The significance of the school is demonstrated by tracing the careers of its graduates in the general context of arts and crafts education of the time. Apart from Kaunas Art School and Dotnuva Academy of Agriculture (1924-1945), Kaunas Women's Arts and Crafts School was the only higher education establishment with speciality in arts. The school's aims matched the Lithuanian demands. Gudonytė-Bizokienė's tailoring courses were on par with the educational programs of the notable tailors of the interwar Kaunas. The paper concludes that it was the artistic crafts that Gudonytė-Bizokienė saw as her main goal, while the fashion salons were only an appendage to her educational work. Crafts education was credited with a higher status in the Lithuanian schools of vocational education. However small, the group of the school's graduates that the research was able to identify demonstrates excellent professional skills and readiness to work in the sphere of crafts education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the circumstances surrounding the establishment of Kaunas’ first metalworking factory. It delves into details such as the founding date (Autumn of 1862), the spelling of the founder’s name — nobleman Tomas Heidukevičius (also known as Tomasz Hejdukiewicz) — the initial activities of the factory, capital procurement, and the establishment of the company. Through presented documents and a cemetery inspection, this article refutes the misconception that the factory was originally named “Minerva” and that its first owner was nobleman Mikalojus Pranciškus Rekošas. The “reintroduction” of Heidukevičius into the historiography of the development of Lithuanian industry sheds light on the origin of artifacts found on his gravestone bearing his initials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the discourse of the right-wing and left-wing politicians and the academic community in 1918–1922 when trying to decide on the type of university needed by the state of Lithuania being built. The novelty of the article is reflected in two aspects. Firstly, the analysis is done at a micro-level, i.e., highlighting the key views and disagreements concerning the university prevailing in the society of the time from the individual perspective. Secondly, the discourse analysis has shown that the attitudes, actions, and initiatives in terms of leadership of politicians and intellectuals were important in decision-making related to university studies. It is that leadership of the academic community in the opening of the first private school of higher education in independent Lithuania, namely the Advanced Courses in 1919–1920, that influenced both the Government and members of the Constituent Assembly to find a consensus on founding the University of Lithuania in Kaunas in 1922. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, in addition to the already quite well-known episode of the issue of lifetime visas by the Japanese vice-consul in Lithuania Chiune Sugihara in Kaunas in the summer of 1940, Lithuania’s position on the issue of refugees is presented, as well as the efforts of Lithuanian diplomats in negotiating with the governments of Britain and the USSR about the possibilities of emigration of willing refugees – Polish Jews. The contribution of Jan Zwartendijk, Honorary Consul of the Netherlands in Lithuania, to the history of salvation is also remembered. The paths of emigration are discussed, showing their entire spectrum, and not just the usual ones with the Trans-Siberian route linked by Sugihara visas. The changing policy of the Japanese government on the issue of transit visas is reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the activities of the “Iron Wolf” of the Lithuanian National Guard in 1927–1930. The main focus is on the Kaunas group of this organization, reviewing the activities of opposition organizations, the tracking of public institution employees and the formation of nationalist organizations and a bureaucratic apparatus loyal to the nationalists (tautininkai). Based on the archival material, which has so far been little systematically used in the scientific literature, the efforts of the post-coup regime of A. Smetona and A. Voldemaras to establish themselves in power are revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]