The Lithuanian Scientific Society was a scientific, cultural, and educational organization that was active between 1907 and 1940 in Vilnius

Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

. It was founded in 1907 on the initiative of Jonas Basanavičius

Jonas Basanavicius

Jonas Basanavičius was an activist and proponent of Lithuania's National Revival and founder of the first Lithuanian language newspaper Aušra. He was one of the initiators and the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 1905 Congress of Lithuanians, the Great Seimas of Vilnius...

.

The founding assembly of the organization took place on April 7, 1907. The assembly elected Jonas Basanavičius

Jonas Basanavicius

Jonas Basanavičius was an activist and proponent of Lithuania's National Revival and founder of the first Lithuanian language newspaper Aušra. He was one of the initiators and the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 1905 Congress of Lithuanians, the Great Seimas of Vilnius...

 as chairman, Stasys Matulaitis and Povilas Matulionis as vice-chairmen, Jonas Vileišis

Jonas Vileišis

Jonas Vileišis was a Lithuanian lawyer, politician, and diplomat.-Early life and career:Vileišis was born in Mediniai, near Pasvalys. In 1892 he graduated from the Šiauliai gymnasium. During 1892-1894, he studied physics and mathematics at Saint Petersburg University. Later he transferred to the...

 as secretary, Antanas Vileišis

Antanas Vileišis

Dr. Antanas Vileišis was a Lithuanian public figure. After graduating from Moscow University in 1898, he settled in Vilnius and practiced medicine. He contributed to and distributed illegal Lithuanian press during the press ban imposed by the Tsarist authorities...

 as treasurer, and Antanas Smetona

Antanas Smetona

Antanas Smetona was one of the most important Lithuanian political figures between World War I and World War II. He served as the first President of Lithuania from April 4, 1919 to June 19, 1920. He again served as the last President of the country from December 19, 1926 to June 15, 1940, before...

 as librarian. Other members of the organization included Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas

Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas

Juozas Tumas, also known by the pen name Vaižgantas , was a prominent Lithuanian writer, Roman Catholic priest, social activist, literary historian, and one of the founders of the Party of National Progress. He wrote novels, short fictional pieces, and non-fiction...

, Juozas Bagdonas

Juozas Bagdonas

Juozas Bagdonas was a Lithuanian painter and founder of the Samogitian Museum of Art.-References:*Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia...

, and Petras Vileišis

Petras Vileišis

Petras Vileišis was a prominent Lithuanian engineer, political activist, and philanthropist.His early schooling took place in Panevežys. He then completed his secondary education at the Šiauliai Gymnasium, graduating with honors. In 1874, he completed his studies at St. Petersburg University, with...

. Jonas Basanavičius served as its chairman until his death in 1927.

The Society conducted research on the Lithuanian language

Lithuanian language

Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...

 and its dialects, along with anthropological, archaeological, and other historical research. It operated a library, an archives, a reading room, and a museum, and was involved in the publication of Lithuanian textbooks. The Society also published the scholarly journal Lietuvių Tauta (The Lithuanian Nation). In 1911 the Vilnius city magistrate began a proceeding to demolish the city's Upper Castle

Vilnius Castle Complex

The Vilnius Castle Complex , is a group of cultural, and historic structures on the left bank of the Neris River, near its confluence with the Vilnia River, in Vilnius, Lithuania. The buildings, which evolved between the 10th and 18th centuries, were one of Lithuania's major defensive...

, and use the hill as a water supply reservoir. The Lithuanian Scientific Society, under the direction of Jonas Basanavičius, initiated a protest and was successful in preventing the planned demolition. The remains of the Castle were spared. The Society also worked to preserve the Lida

Lida

Lida is a city in western Belarus in Hrodna Voblast, situated 160 km west of Minsk. It is the fourteenth largest city in Belarus.- Etymology :...

 and Trakai Castle

Trakai Castle

The term Trakai Castle might refer to three separate castles in Lithuania:* Trakai Island Castle, located on an island in Lake Galvė* Trakai Peninsula Castle, located on a peninsula of Lake Galvė...

s.

The Society was based in the Vileišis Palace

Vileišis Palace

Vileišis Palace is a Neo-baroque style architectural ensemble in Vilnius, Lithuania, built for Petras Vileišis. Vileišis was a prominent Lithuanian engineer, political activist, publisher, and philanthropist who commissioned the palace in 1904 and supervised its construction. The ensemble consists...

. In January 1938 the Society was banned by the Polish government, which was then in control of Vilnius. The Society resumed its activities in January 1939 under its new name, The Lithuanian Society of Friends of Science (Lietuvių mokslo mylėtoju draugija). After Lithuania retook control of the city in late 1939, the property of the Society was transferred to the Institute of Lithuanistics in 1940, and later to the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences

Lithuanian Academy of Sciences

The Lithuanian Academy of Sciences or LAS, founded in 1941 as the Lithuanian SSR Academy of Sciences , as an autonomous, state-subsidized establishment serving as a scientific advisory body to the government of Lithuanian SSR...

. Most of the exhibits were later transferred to the Lithuanian Museum of History and Ethnography; the numismatic collection went to the Lithuanian Art Museum

Lithuanian Art Museum

The Lithuanian Art Museum was initially established in Vilnius in 1933 as the Vilnius City Museum. It houses Lithuania's largest art collection.-History:...

.

Honorary members

• Adalbert Bezzenberger
  Adalbert Bezzenberger
  Adalbert Bezzenberger was a German philologist, born at Kassel.He studied the Indo-Germanic languages at the universities of Göttingen and Munich. In 1874 he became lecturer at Göttingen and in 1879 professor of Sanskrit at the University of Königsberg...
  
  
• Baudouin de Courtenay
• Phillip Fortunatov
• Aleksey Shakhmatov
  Aleksey Shakhmatov
  Aleksey Aleksandrovich Shakhmatov was an outstanding Russian philologist credited with laying foundations for the science of textology.-Biography:...
  
  
• Tadeusz Wroblewski
  Tadeusz Wróblewski
  Tadeusz Wróblewski was a Polish–Lithuanian noble, politician, lawyer, bibliophile and cultural activist. He supported the democratic wing of krajowcy movement. Wróblewski sponsored a large library in Vilnius .- Life :...