Imperatorski Uniwersytet Wileński a początki litewskiego odrodzenia narodowego

Abstract

The process known in the historiographical tradition as the Lithuanian national revival, understood here as the slow transformation of an ethnic nation dominated culturally by its neighbors into a political nation, has been dated to the second half of the 19th century – especially the period after the fall of the January Uprising and the ban on printing in Latin type on Lithuanian lands – and the first decade of the 20th century. However, there are indications that this periodization could be extended to include the period of the Imperial University of Vilnius. The article is an attempt to show the role of the Vilnius University in the awakening of Lithuanian national consciousness and the formation of the Lithuanian national movement. Thus, the subject of consideration here are the activities and explorations of the lecturers, students and collaborators of the Imperial Vilnius University that co-created the Lithuanianist current within its walls, in particular, the flourishing of research and reflection on the history of Lithuanians and Lithuanian lands in its function both critical and mythologizing, the emancipation of the Lithuanian language, including as a literary language, and the importance of the University as a center of science, education and culture in Lithuanian lands.