Excerpts of Vilnius Vytautas Magnus gimnasium history
In 1915 on October 18th the first Lithuanian school was opened in the city of Vilnius and the Vilnius county. It was named after the men who established it- “J.Basanavichius, M.Birzhishka and P.Gaidelionis city of Vilnius Lithuanian gimnasium curriculum." It had soon been sponsored by the public society "Rytas" which gave it its own name.
Times had been hard- World War I was going on. Lithuania was occupied by Germans, the people were impoverished. However, the enthusiasts who founded this school were optimistically inclined. Even though there were only 47 students there in the beginning, later their number was growing very fast. Young people from the city of Vilnius and the region began joining the gimnasium. This tradition is alive to this day -- a number of students come from regions around Vilnius. This difficult time gave birth to the gimnasium traditions, priorities and students' self-_expression. One of the first traits of the gimnasium was the community coming together. The most important issues were discussed by teachers, students' parents and gimnasium students themselves. Today, the community involvement again became a priority.
In 1921 the gymnasium was named after Vytautas Magnus (the Great). For a long time this educational institution was the main supporter of the Lithuanian spirit in the land.
In 1939 the gimnasium split into two: Duchess Birute gimnasium for girls and Vytautas Magnus gimnasium for boys.
During World War II, the Soviet and German occupation forces kept changing the school's face and name. In 1957 the gimnasium was called Antanas Vienuolis secondary school.
In 1990, when Lithuania became an independent state, the school looked back at its roots, and started its rebuilding.
In 1999 the school became a gimnasium again. In 2005 it got back its historic name of Vytautas
Magnus gimnasium. This name behoves its community to continue the beautiful and honorable traditions of this educational institution.
