Professor Tomas Venclova -70-year jubilee

The Exposition is presented at Venclova Family House Museum
under the Directorate of Vilnius Memorial Museums 

 

           2007 was a jubilee year for Tomas Venclova. Three decennaries ago, on January, 1977, he left for emigration from Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport as (according to the rephrased statement of Kęstutis Nastopka) a rebellious classicist, ineligible for the Soviet authorities and some colleagues. On September 11, 2007, he celebrates his 70-year jubilee as a professor of Yale University (one of the most prestigious in USA), publicist, translator and already a classic of Lithuanian poetry. One of the most topical statements of Tomas Venclova worth considering by any of us was: „The global modern world is an entire large boundary: existing in its forces you to overcome the frontiers and to struggle against isolation. In any case, it is not getting uniform: boundaries remain for ever, because they provide beauty to the world; however, they hopefully will not be totalitarian and absolute“. The example of Tomas Venclova attests that a person open to the world, not afraid of other cultures and striving to get to know them can contribute considerably to culture of the motherland instead of losing touch with his national roots and becoming colorless. Verses of the poet who left his “only city” Vilnius three decennaries ago for Aeolus custody (the verse “The City Ode”) and crossed off the blackness of the life in the Soviet Union by the cross of the shadow of the departing airplane (the verse „ Sheremetyevo 1977“) became a part of treasury of Lithuanian poetry many years ago; his works in Slavonic philology expand the horizon both of professionals and any other person who read them; his publicistic articles accustom us to a critical and fearless attitude towards ourselves and the world.
            Plurimos annos, faustos felicesque!

                                                                                                                                                Dr. Donata Mitaitė


The Compiler of the exposition: Birutė Vagrienė, the year 2007.



Palanga, the year 1946. From the left:
are sitting - Tomas Venclova and Andrius
Cvirka, are standing Antanas Venclova,
Eliza Venclovienė, Karolis Vairas –
Račkauskas (the photo from the collection
of Venclova Family House Museum)

The drawing made by Tomas Venclova in
the childhood (from the personal archive
of Tomas Venclova)


The portrait of Tomas Venclova in the
age of about 10-11 years made by artist
Telesforas Kulakauskas  (the photo from
the personal archive of Tomas Venclova)


Melchioras Račkauskas, Tomas Venclova
and Antanas Venclova at the grave of the parents
of Račkauskas  in the cemetery of Luokė
settlement (the photo from the collection
of Venclova Family House Museum)


Chinese writer Ge Bao Tsuan, E. Venclovienė,
T. Venclova and A. Venclova at the workroom
of the house of Venclova family. Vilnius,
May 1955 (the photo from the collection
of Venclova Family House Museum)
A clipping from press materials
of the Soviet times (from the personal
archive of Tomas Venclova)

Ushkovo (close to Leningrad), the late May
1972. Ramūnas Katilius (in the left),
Josif Brodsky  and Tomas Venclova
(the photo by Marija Etkind from the archive
of Ramūnas Katilius and Elė Katilienė)


Josif Brodsky with Ramūnas Katilius, Era
Korobova, Jefim Etkind and Tomas Venclova.
Ushkovo (close to Leningrad), the late May
1972. (the photo by Marija Etkind from the
archive of Ramūnas Katilius and Elė Katilienė)
Exlibris for Tomas Venclova made by
artist Petras Repšys (from the collection
of Venclova Family House Museum)

Exlibris for Tomas Venclova made by artist
Vincas Kisarauskas (from the collection
of Venclova Family House Museum)

Tomas Venclova with Elė Katilienė and
Ramūnas Katilius in Leningrad before
leaving for permanent residence abroad
in winter 1977 (the photo by
M. Milchik from the archive of
Ramūnas Katilius and Elė Katilienė)
Tomas Venclova with Mikhail Milchik
in Leningrad before leaving for permanent
residence abroad in winter 1977
(the photo from the archive of
Ramūnas Katilius and Elė Katilienė)

Tomas Venclova in the year 1977
(the photo from the collection of
Venclova Family House Museum)
The Resolution of the USSR Supreme
Soviet on depriving Tomas Venclova
of the USSR citizenship,
as of 14 July 1977 (from the
collection of Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscripts Library)
T. Venclova with Holy Father
Johann Paul II (the photo from
the collection of Venclova
Family House Museum, the photonegative
is in the collection of Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscripts Library)

T. Venclova in cruise by „Baltic Star“
ship with Alexander and Violeta Shtrom
in Stockholm, the year 1985
(the photofrom the collection of Beinecke
Rare Books and Manuscripts Library)

T. Venclova delivers a speech in
Stockholm, the year 1985 (the photo
from the collection of Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscripts Library)
Tomas Venclova with Czeslaw Milosz
and Alexander Shtrom (the photo
from the collection of Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscripts Library)

A moment from the meeting with Tomas
Venclova at the Venclova Family House
Museum in December 1992. Tomas
Venclova is standing. Are sitting in the
first row: A. Vaičiūnas, D. Jakševičiūtė,
L. Judžinskienė, S. Trepšys (the photo
by M. Baranauskas from the collection
of Venclova Family House Museum)

A moment from the meeting with Tomas
Venclova at the Venclova Family House
Museum in December 1992. Tomas
Venclova is interviewed by an employee of
Lithuanian TV (the photo by M. Baranauskas
from the collection of Venclova
Family House Museum)
A moment from the meeting with Tomas
Venclova at the Venclova Family House
Museum in December 1992. Tomas
Venclova with Bronys Savukynas (the
photo by M. Baranauskas from the
collection of Venclova Family
House Museum)

Peterburg, summer 1995, at Anna
Akhmatova House-Museum
(the photo from the Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscripts Library)

After the preview of the Lithuanian movie
„Nobody Wished Dying”. „Dom kino”
/”Cinema HOUSE”/ , Peterburg, the year
1995. In the foreground, Tomas Venclova
and Vytautas Žalakevičius are standing,
a little away in the right -Regimantas
Adomaitis (the photo from the collection of
Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library)
Tomas Venclova (the photo from
the collection of Venclova Family
House Museum)

Tomas Venclova in the 70s of the
20th century (the photo from the
personal archive of Tomas Venclova)
Tomas Venclova at Yale University
where he maintained his Doctor’s
Thesis in the year 1986 (the photo
from the collection of Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscripts Library)
New York Times published a protest
of three poets on January 15, 1991
(from the archive of Ramūnas
Katilius and Elė Katilienė)

February 13, 1995. The President of Lithuania
decorates Tomas Venclova with the Lithuanian
Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke
Gediminas Class 3 (Commander's Cross).
In the photo: Tatjana Venclovienė, President
Algirdas Brazauskas, Tomas Venclova during the
ceremony of the decoration (the photo from the
archive of Ramūnas Katilius and Elė Katilienė)

The lunch with Valdas Adamkus the
President of Republic of Lithuania at
the President’s Office of Republic of Lithuania,
the year 2000 (the photo
from the collection of Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscripts Library)


Liejyklos St. 6, Vilnius, on the day of
inauguration of the A.Brodsky memorial
plaque (October 02, 2000). From right to
left: Tomas Venclova, Günter Grass,
Czeslaw Milosz, Arūnas Bėkšta, President
Valdas Adamkus, Wislawa Szymborska
and other persons (the photo by Donata
Mitaitė from the archive of Donata Mitaitė)

Krzysztof Czyżewski congratulates Tomas
Venclova, “The Boundary Person – 2001”.
Seiny, the year 2001  (the photo by
G. Dąbrowski from the collection of
Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library)
Tomas Venclova and Adam Michnik
in the ceremony of conferring the title
of “The Boundary Person”. Seiny,
the year 2001  (the photo by G. Dąbrowski
from the collection of Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscripts Library)
Tomas Venclova and Krzysztof Czyżewski
in the ceremony of conferring the title
of “The Boundary Person”. Seiny,
the year 2001  (the photo by G. Dąbrowski
from the collection of Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscripts Library)

The fountainhead of Josif Brodsky Museum.
At the redeemed “large” room of the apartment
of the parents of Brodsky at Pestel Street
(St .Peterburg), just after its repairs.
(the photo from the archive of Ramūnas
Katilius and Elė Katilienė)

Tomas Venclova, Czeslaw Milosz and Tatjana
Venclova in Kraków (the photo from the
collection of Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscripts Library)
Presentation of the Guide on Vilnius
by Tomas Venclova (the photo from
the collection of Venclova Family
House Museum)

Conversaziones for poetry by T. Venclova at
Manhattan restaurant „Russkij samovar“
(the favorite restaurant of emigrants) in the
year 2002, where Marija Brodskaya and Anna
Brodskaya (in the right) were presented
as well (the photo from the collection of
Venclova Family House Museum)
Nida, 2002. At the Thomas Mann House
with German poet Durs Grűnbein
(the photo from the collection of
Venclova Family House Museum)
At the house of poet W. H. Auden in
Austria in the year 2003 (the photo
from the collection of Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscripts Library)

T. Venclova with his wife Tatjana at
the house where he resided when came
to San Francisco in the year 1977.
January 2003 (the photo from the
collection of Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscripts Library)
T. Venclova with his wife Tatjana at the
background of a bridge in San Francisco.
January 2003 (the photo from the collection
of Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library)
T. Venclova at the coffee-house that he
often visited while living in Berkeley,
in the year 1977. Berkeley, 2003 (the
photo from the collection of Beinecke Rare
Books and Manuscripts Library)

T. Venclova in the University of
California, Berkeley, 2003
(the photo from the collection of
Venclova Family House Museum)

Two foes. T. Venclova at the memorial
plaque for J. Stalin in Vienna, 2003
(the photo from the collection of
Venclova Family House Museum)
Paris, July 2003. Tatjana and Tomas
Venclova with the grandson of Doctor Botkin
(shot dead together with Russian Tsar Nikolay)
whom they happened to meet in Paris
(the photo from the collection of Venclova
Family House Museum)

T. Venclova. Paris, July 2003
(the photo from the collection of Beinecke
Rare Books and Manuscripts Library)
With daughter Maryte
(the photo by Donata
Mitaitė from the archive of Donata Mitaitė)
Jurga Ivanauskaitė, Tatjana Venclova
and Tomas Venclova in the Embassy of
Austria in Vilnius. June 2003 (the photo
from the collection of Beinecke
Rare Books and Manuscripts Library)

The ceremony of awarding with
St. Christopher sculpture at Vilnius
Town Hall. Spring 2003.  A. Zuokas and
T. Venclova (the photo by A. Žygavičius
from the Archive of the Town Hall)

Tomas Venclova with his friends
after the ceremony of awarding with
St. Christopher sculpture at Vilnius
Town Hall. Spring 2003 (the photo
by A. Žygavičius from the Archive
of the Town Hall)
Tomas Venclova at Vilnius Town Hall
where he was awarded with St. Christopher
sculpture. Vilnius, 2003 (the photo by
A. Žygavičius from the Archive
of the Town Hall)

Tomas Venclova at the former
workroom of his father in the Museum.
Spring 2003. (the photo by B. Vagrienė
from the collection of Venclova
Family House Museum)

A moment of the literary evening “Lithuanian
Divertissement” at Venclova Family House
Museum, 2005. From the left: Ramūnas
Katilius, Elė Katilienė, Tomas Venclova,
Birutė Vagrienė, Lidija Šimkutė, Virginija
Kochanskytė (the photo by D. Mikutytė
from the collection of Venclova
Family House Museum)
A moment of the literary evening
“Lithuanian Divertissement” at Venclova
Family House Museum, 2005 (the photo
by R. Danisevičius from the collection
of Venclova Family House Museum)

A moment of the literary evening
“Lithuanian Divertisement” at Venclova
Family House Museum, 2005.
Pranas Morkus, Tomas Venclova, Ramūnas
Katilius (the photo by R. Danisevičius
from the collection of Venclova
Family House Museum)

July 2006. The literary evening “1966-2006.
Recollections of the first visit of Josif Brodsky
to Vilnius” at Venclova Family House
Museum. Tomas Venclova and Ramūnas
Katilius (the photo by G. Zemlickas)
July 2006. The literary evening “1966-2006.
Recollections of the first visit of Josif Brodsky
to Vilnius” at Venclova Family House
Museum. Tomas Venclova, Ramūnas Katilius,
Pranas Morkus, Irena Veisaitė,  Vytautas
Toleikis (the photo by G. Zemlickas)

Tomas Venclova with his mother Eliza
Vencloviene. The 95th birthday of the mother.
Vilnius, July 2006 (the photo by Donata
Mitaitė from the archive of Donata Mitaitė)
Presentation of the book „Vilniaus vardai“
/”Vilnius Names”/ by Tomas Venclova at Vilnius
Town Hall, 2006 (the photo by G. Zemlickas)
Tomas Venclova is autographing.
Presentation of the book „Vilniaus vardai“
/”Vilnius Names”/ by Tomas Venclova
at Vilnius Town Hall, 2006
(the photo by G. Zemlickas)

At the scientific conference „Lithuanian
Helsinki Group. Meeting After 30 Years“,
Vilnius Town Hall,  January 10, 2007.
Donata Mitaitė, Tomas Venclova, Viktoras
Petkus (the photo by A. Žygavičius from the
collection of Venclova Family House Museum)


At the scientific conference „Lithuanian
Helsinki Group. Meeting After 30 Years“,
Vilnius Town Hall,  January 10, 2007.
The members founders of Vilnius Helsinki
Group Tomas Venclova and Viktoras
Petkus (the photo by A. Žygavičius from the
collection of Venclova Family House Museum)
At the scientific conference „Lithuanian
Helsinki Group. Meeting After 30 Years“,
Vilnius Town Hall,  January 10, 2007.
Tomas Venclova and member founder of
Moscow Helsinki Group Liudmila Aleksejeva
(the photo by A. Žygavičius from the
collection of Venclova Family House Museum)

T. Venclova at the scientific conference
„Lithuanian Helsinki Group. Meeting After 30
Years“, Vilnius Town Hall, January 10, 2007
(the photo by A. Žygavičius from the
collection of Venclova Family House Museum)
At the scientific conference „Lithuanian
Helsinki Group. Meeting After 30 Years“,
Vilnius Town Hall,  January 10, 2007.
Donata Mitaitė and Tomas Venclova
(the photo by A. Žygavičius from the
collection of Venclova Family House Museum)
Books of Tomas Venclova stored at Venclova
Family House Museum (the photo by
B. Vagrienė from the collection
of Venclova Family House Museum)

© The Directorate of Vilnius Memorial Museums, 2007