Address
34 Pamenkalnio St, LT-01114, Vilnius.
E-mail:
info.venclovos@vilniausmuziejai.lt
Web-site:
http://www.vilniausmuziejai.lt/venclova/en/index.htm
Opening times
Monday to Friday 11.00-17.00.
Museum's
collection
Home collection of Venclova family is comprised of around 8
thousand pieces. It includes the funds of Antanas Venclova and of Tomas
Venclova, as well as recently established fund of Račkauskas family.
Exposition
A. Venclova's Exposition of Memorial Cabinet is set up according to D. Skrebiene's project and reflects years 1950-1970, Vilnius' Lithuanian intellectuals' life. Many Lithuanian writers and intellectuals visited and socialized in this cabinet. T. Venclova came to full growth among exhibited items in the museum - poet, essayist, and publicist of wide views, Yale University professor.
Exhibitions
The museum organizes literature exhibitions.
Cultural, educational activity
The Museum acquaints with 1950-1970 living manner of Vilnius Lithuanian intellectuals.
History of Museum
From 1973 to 1990 the Vilnius Writers' Museum existed in the Antanas Venclova (1906-1971) apartment where the writer lived since 1946.
Memorial Home-Museum of A.Venclova was reorganized into memorial Cabinet
of A.Venclova in 1991 located at Vilnius House of Lithuanian Culture, and
after that, in 1996 - at Vilnius Centre of Ethnic Activities. The museum
was titled “Home-Museum of Venclova Family” in 2004. Since June of 2005
this museum is included in the Directorate of Memorial Museums of Vilnius
along with Memorial Home-Museum of B. Grinceviciute
“House of Beatrice”, Memorial Home-Museum of V
.Kreve-Mickevicius
and Memorial Home-Museum of V. Mykolaitis-Putinas.
Antanas Venclova
A. Venclova (1906-1971), writer, born in Trempiniai, county of Kalvarija.
He studied Lithuanian, Russian and French literature at the University of Kaunas. Graduating in 1932, he worked as a high school teacher. Apart from his teaching work, he edited the literary journal Trecias frontas (The Third Front) in 1930-1931 and the almanac Prosvaiste (Gleam) in 1939-1940.
When the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania in 1940, he was appointed Lithuanian People's Commissar for Education. He retreated to Russia at the outbreak of the German-Russia war in 1941, returning with the Red Army in 1944.
During 1944-1946 he taught literature at the University of Kaunas and was head of the department of Lithuanian language and literature.
From 1946 until his death on June 28, 1971, he lived in Vilnius.
In 1949 he was elected a member of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and during 1954-1959 he was president of the Lithuanian Writers' Union; from 1941-1962 he served as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet.
Venclova was an exceptionally productive writer; he wrote verses, short stories, novels, literary essays, as well as biographical sketches, travel impressions and reminiscences.
His collections of verses include Sutemu skersgatviuose (In Alleys of Twilight, 1926), Gatves svinta (Streets are Dawning, 1927), Salies jaunyste (Youth of the Country, 1947), Zeme gera (The Earth is Good, 1963), Vakarine zvaigzde (Evening Star, 1971).
His poetry is very uneven. The earlier verses are experimental and lack originality. Verses written in Russia during the war convey genuine nostalgia and love of his native country. His post-war poetry, declamatory in form and hortatory in character, suffers from artificialities and clichés. His later verses are reflective in tone and content and gain in sincerity and lyrical quality.
He published several collections of short stories, including Berzai vetroje (Birches in the Storm, 1930), Naktis (The Night, 1939), Mirtis Lisabonoj (Death in Lisbon, 1967); and the novels: Draugyste (Friendship, 1936) and Gimimo diena (Birthday, 1959).
His important essays on literature were collected in Laikas ir rasytojai (Time and Writers, 1958), Epochos vejas (Wind of the Epoch, 1962) and Literatura ir liaudis (Literature and People, 1974).
He wrote three volumes of memoirs: Pavasario upe (The River of Spring, 1964), Jaunystes atradimas (In Search of Youth, 1966) and Vidurdienio vetra (Storm at Noon, 1969).
He translated among others works of Guy de Maupassant, B. Kellermann, C. Dickens, V. Kataiev, M. Gorky, B. Pasternak, and A. Pushkin into Lithuanian.
Photos from Museum's funds
