20 September 2024

Valuable archival collection added to the National Library

The National Library has acquired the personal library and archives of Dr. Vincas Bartusevičius (1939-2020), a prominent member of the Lithuanian-German community and long-time director of the German-Lithuanian Cultural Institute (LCI).

The valuable gift was given to the Library by V. Bartusevičius’ wife, Ona Bartusevičius, who is well aware of the decades-long cooperation between V. Bartusevičius and the National Library. It dates back to the 1990s, when, thanks to the care and initiative of V. Bartusevičius, one of the first consignments of Lithuanian publications published in the Western world reached the National Library and was an important addition to the then scarce stock of diaspora publications. Later, thanks to Bartusevičius, the holdings of the National Library were replenished with the latest publications of works by Lithuanian authors and works about our country published in Germany, and the previously unavailable copies of retrospective works published by the Lithuanian diaspora. They were extremely important for the creation of a comprehensive national archive of published documents, and were carefully selected and sent to the Library. Dr. Bartusevičius’ expertise and professional insight were extremely useful to the National Library in preparing the bibliographic compendiums of the Lithuanian diaspora press.

The archives of two monographs on the Lithuanian community in Germany (“Lithuanians in DP camps in Germany, 1945-1951”; “German Lithuanians, 1950-1990”) and the archives of the author of many scientific publications, Dr. Vincas Bartusevičius, contain important documents, correspondence, photographs, etc.

The personal book collection and archive of Dr. Vincas Bartusevičius were brought to Lithuania by the Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to Germany, Mr. Ramūnas Misiulis.