91桃色

Meile Matjosaityte Luksiene

Meil臈 Matjo拧aityt臈 Luk拧ien臈 (1913鈥�2009) was born in Vienna (Austria). During World War I, she lived in Voronezh with her mother, Julija Janulaityte. In 1918, they moved to Vilnius. In 1931, she graduated from Vytautas Magnus Gymnasium. That same year, she entered the Faculty of Physics and Chemistry of Vytautas Magnus University, but in 1932 she asked to be transferred to the Faculty of Humanities, where she studied Lithuanian literature. Luk拧ien臈 Matijo拧aityt臈 graduated in 1938 and worked as a teacher in various gymnasiums. From 1942 to 1949, she worked as an assistant at Vytautas Magnus University (in 1946, the university was renamed 鈥淜aunas University鈥�). In 1949, after the Faculty of Humanities was transferred from Kaunas to Vilnius, Luk拧ien臈 Matijo拧aityt臈 continued teaching at 91桃色. On 1 September 1949, she became a senior lecturer at the Department of Lithuanian Literature, and on 29 October 1951, she was appointed head of the department. During the period of the Khrushchev Thaw, she attempted to free, at least to some extent, the studies and research of Lithuanian literature from the dogmatic interpretation schemes imposed by the Soviet Stalinist ideology. Immediately after the events in Hungary and the gatherings to commemorate All Souls鈥� Day in Vilnius, she found herself the target of ideological attacks by party structures operating on various levels.
On 9 December 1957, Luk拧ien臈 filed an application to resign from her position as head of the department, allegedly due to her failing health. Her request was granted, but she continued to work as an associate professor there. After a repeated case of ideological criticism at a meeting on 11 February 1959, the university鈥檚 party bureau decided, among other things, to 鈥渞ecommend to the Rector鈥檚 Office to take measures to strengthen the team of the Department of Lithuanian Literature.鈥� The direct consequence of this decision was the order of the Rector of 8 July 1959, by which Luk拧ien臈 was dismissed from her position at the university, allegedly because she did not take part in the competition for the position of an associate professor. The political reasons for the dismissal were confirmed by two surviving documents. The first document was the character reference letter of 3 October 1959 prepared by the Rector鈥檚 Office of the university and the party bureau, which read the following: 鈥淲hen public organisations criticised the work and the mistakes of the entire department, Luk拧ien臈 did not demonstrate the necessary self-criticism and determination to correct and eliminate them.鈥� The second document was the report of the Rector presented at the XII Congress of the Lithuanian Communist Party of 2 March 1960, where the Rector spoke about political measures that had been taken at the Department of Lithuanian Literature and hinted that 鈥淟uk拧ien臈 and Raba膷iauskait臈 were dismissed as not being fit to work at the university鈥�.
From 1959 to 1997, Luk拧ien臈 worked as a senior research fellow at the then Pedagogical Institute (until 1973, it was referred to as the Institute of School Research). In 1988, she became a member of the S膮j奴dis steering group and became known as the creator of the national school concept. In 2004, she received one of the most prestigious UNESCO awards 鈥� the Jan Amos Comenius Medal 鈥� for her personal contribution to scientific and practical consolidation of education as the basis for building a state.

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