Sejny Priest Seminary
Encyclopedia
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
established in Sejny
Sejny
Sejny is a town in north-eastern Poland, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, close to the border with Lithuania and Belarus. It is located in the eastern part of the Suwałki Lake Area , on the Marycha river, being a tributary of Czarna Hańcza...
(now Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) in 1826. The courses lasted five years. Up until its dissolution in 1926, the seminary was an important center of Lithuanian culture, educating many prominent figures of the Lithuanian National Revival
Lithuanian National Revival
Lithuanian National Revival, alternatively Lithuanian National Awakening , was a period of the history of Lithuania in the 19th century at the time when a major part of Lithuanian inhabited areas belonged to the Russian Empire...
.
The Sejny Seminary was established by bishop Nicholas John Manugiewicz to address shortages of Lithuanian-speaking priests. At first the seminary was small. Later, when seminaries in Tykocin
Tykocin
Tykocin is an old, smaller size town in north-eastern Poland, with 1,800 inhabitants , located on the Narew river. Tykocin has been situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship since 1999. Previously, it belonged to Białystok Voivodeship...
(1863) and Kielce
Kielce
Kielce ) is a city in central Poland with 204,891 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...
(1893) were closed and merged, the Sejny Seminary grew to 60–80 students. A large portion of the students were sons of Lithuanian peasants from Suvalkija
Suvalkija
Suvalkija or Sudovia is the smallest of the five cultural regions of Lithuania. Its unofficial capital is Marijampolė. People from Suvalkija are called suvalkiečiai or suvalkietis . It is located south of the Neman River, in the former territory of Vilkaviškis bishopric...
. In 1915, during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the seminary was evacuated into Russia (first Mogilev
Mogilev
Mogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants...
, then Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
). In 1919 the seminary returned to Sejny, but the town was at the center of the Polish–Lithuanian War
Polish–Lithuanian War
The Polish–Lithuanian War was an armed conflict between newly independent Lithuania and Poland in the aftermath of World War I. The conflict primarily concerned territorial control of the Vilnius Region, including Vilnius , and the Suwałki Region, including the towns of Suwałki, Augustów, and Sejny...
. After Polish army secured the town, Lithuanian students and faculty were expelled into Lithuania, where the seminary continued in Zypliai and Gižai. In 1926 the Sejny Seminary was renamed to Vilkaviškis Priest Seminary and ceased to exist.
Alumni
- Mykolas KrupavičiusMykolas KrupavičiusMykolas Krupavičius was a Lithuanian priest and politician. He is best remembered for his involvement with the land reform in the interwar Lithuania....
, politician - Vincas KudirkaVincas KudirkaVincas Kudirka was a Lithuanian poet and physician, and the author of both the music and lyrics of the Lithuanian National Anthem, Tautiška giesmė. He is regarded in Lithuania as a National Hero. Kudirka used pen names - V...
, writer, founder of VarpasVarpasVarpas was a monthly Lithuanian-language newspaper published during the Lithuanian press ban from January 1889 to December 1905... - Vincas Mickevičius-KapsukasVincas Mickevicius-KapsukasVincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas was a Lithuanian political activist, one of the founders and leaders of the Communist Party of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic ....
, communist activist (expelled after a year) - Vincas Mykolaitis-PutinasVincas Mykolaitis-PutinasVincas Mykolaitis known by his pen name Putinas was Lithuanian poet and writer. He was also a priest, but renounced his priesthood in 1935.-Biography:...
, writer - Justinas StaugaitisJustinas StaugaitisJustinas Staugaitis was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic bishop, politician, educator, and author. He one of the twenty signatories to the Act of Independence of Lithuania....
, signatory of the Act of Independence of LithuaniaAct of Independence of LithuaniaThe Act of Independence of Lithuania or Act of February 16 was signed by the Council of Lithuania on February 16, 1918, proclaiming the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania, governed by democratic principles, with Vilnius as its capital. The Act was signed by all twenty... - Jonas TotoraitisJonas TotoraitisJonas Totoraitis was a Roman Catholic priest and historian. Totoraitis studied at the Theological Seminary of Sejny. He went on to Freiburg University in Switzerland, where his doctoral dissertation on the life of King Mindaugas, Die Litauer unter dem König Mindowe bis zum Jahre 1263, the first...
, historian