Juozas Girnius was a Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

n existentialist

Existentialism

Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...

 philosopher. His philosophy combined existentialism, Catholicism

Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

, and Lithuanian nationalism

Nationalism

Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...

. Together with Antanas Maceina

Antanas Maceina

Antanas Maceina was a Lithuanian philosopher, existentialist, educator, theologian, and poet.Developed philosophy of culture of Stasys Šalkauskis, adjusted Christian philosophy and existentialism, accented an importance of native language to education.- References :...

 and Stasys Šalkauskis

Stasys Šalkauskis

Stasys Šalkauskis was a Lithuanian philosopher, educator, rector of Vytautas Magnus University. His philosophy of culture was developed by Antanas Maceina and other philosophers....

, Girnius became a cornerstone of modern Lithuanian philosophy. In 1994, he was awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas

Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas

The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this Order. The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke...

.

In 1932, he enrolled for philosophy studies at Vytautas Magnus University

Vytautas Magnus University

Vytautas Magnus University ) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university...

 in Kaunas

Kaunas

Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...

. He studied at European universities, including Catholic University of Leuven

Catholic University of Leuven

The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...

, University of Freiburg

University of Freiburg

The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...

, and Collège de France

Collège de France

The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...

, where he attended lectures by Martin Heidegger

Martin Heidegger

Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...

. Girnius became interested in existentialism and chose this theme for his graduation thesis, titled The Principles of Heidegger's Existential Philosophy. During 1941–1943 he lectured at Vytautas Magnus University. At the end of World War II, he left Lithuania as a displaced person

Displaced person

A displaced person is a person who has been forced to leave his or her native place, a phenomenon known as forced migration.- Origin of term :...

. While in Germany he published a pamphlet on the Lithuanian character. In this work, Girnius favorably compared the Lithuanians with neighboring nationalities and concluded that they are warmer than the Germans and more open than the Russians. In 1949, Girnius settled in the United States.

In 1951, Montreal University (Canada) awarded him PhD for his thesis Liberty and Being. Existential Metaphysics of Karl Jaspers

Karl Jaspers

Karl Theodor Jaspers was a German psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jaspers turned to philosophical inquiry and attempted to discover an innovative philosophical system...

(original in French: La metaphysique existentielle de K. Jaspers). Thus educated in Lithuania and Western universities, Girnius managed to avoid influence of Russian philosophers, common among other Lithuanian thinkers. In 1964 he published his major work A Man Without God (original in Lithuanian: Žmogus be Dievo), a psychological analysis of non-believers. Girnius expressed his concerns regarding spreading atheism. According to him, believers strive for infinity while those who reject god lead empty lives. Later he devoted himself to Lithuanian cultural activity, editing Lithuanian encyclopedias

Lithuanian encyclopedias

Lithuanian encyclopedias are encyclopedias published in the Lithuanian language or encyclopedias about Lithuania and Lithuania-related topics. The first known attempt to create a Lithuanian encyclopedia was in 1883, when Jonas Jacevičius failed to get permission from the Tsarist authorities for...

 (1953–1969) and Aidai

Aidai

Aidai and since 1992 Naujasis Židinys-Aidai is a magazine about Lithuanian culture and literature. It was established in Munich, Germany, as a successor of the traditions of Naujoji Romuva and Židinys magazines published in interbellum Lithuania...

(1965–1980), participating in various events or organizations, including Ateitininkai (a Lithuanian Catholic organization).