XVIII amžiaus studijos / The Eighteenth Century Studies

The article presents scientific, pedagogical and collecting activities of priest Stanisław Boniface Jundziłł (1761–1847) – botanist, professor of natural history at the University of Vilnius in the end of 18th-begining of 19th century. Foreign nature studies in Vienna under the supervision of professor Joseph Franz von Jacquin, which he held in the years 1792–1797, were an important period in the scientific development of Jundziłł. During this period, he gained not only theoretical knowledge, but also, among others, he carried out numerous herborizations, traveled and visited collections, gardens and mines. At that time, Vienna was one of the most important scientific centers in Europe dealing with natural sciences – botany, zoology and mineralogy. After returning to Vilnius, Jundziłł started teaching, and in 1799 he was appointed the main guardian of the university collections: the botanical garden and the natural history cabinet. Thanks to the Vilnius botanist, these collections have become educational and research spaces at a high European level.

The name of the artist and stage decorator Konstanty Ottosielski (Otoszelski, ca 1755–1809) is well known among culture historians, with brief biograms being included in biographical dictionaries of Lithuania’s and Poland’s artists.3 Nonetheless, in terms of his biography and his artistic legacy, this is a figure who has been researched in a very fragmented manner, perhaps because thus far not a single piece of his work is known to exist. Data is usually given in publications that in around 1780 Ottosielski worked for the Radziwiłł princes in Nesvyzh, where he painted decorations for the court theatre there, before moving to the Sapieha family’s Derechin estate, and lived in Vilnius from 1793 where he created a number of theatrical set designs and interior mural paintings.4 This article focuses on research of this artist’s biography, using sources to correct the life dates of the artist and his family members, the geography of his activities, paying particular attention to his time spent in Vilnius.

The article discusses one of the earliest images of Vilnius University, which was engraved and printed in 1781 in two publications from the Vilnius Academy printing house. Copies of this image are nowadays found in modern historical literature and in various types of printed material (on book covers, diplomas and posters). However, until now, there has been no attempt to examine the original image as a historical source. The uniqueness and relevance of this engraving are determined by the fact that it was created during a crucial period in the university’s reform by the National Education Commission. The aim of the article is to identify which elements of the image of Vilnius University are based on reality, and which represent the unfulfilled ideas of the reformers. Additionally, the article raises questions about the authorship of the engraving, the relationship with the book in which it appeared, and its reuse in later publications. A comprehensive bibliographical description of two publications in which the engraving was printed is provided in the article’s appendix.

The aim of the article is an attempt to prepare a collective portrait of a group of former Jesuits who joined the order in Vilnius and, after the dissolution of the order, remained in the service of the Commission of National Education. In order to present the full image of this group, the numerical composition of ex-Jesuits (214 people), their territorial and social origin, education, employment history in the structures of the Commission of National Education and their age at the time of establishing the Commission were established. The article also presents the fate of the members of the described group after the end of the activities of the Commission of National Education, as well as their intellectual activity. The vast majority of the presented group were secondary school teachers in the Lithuanian Department in the years 1773–1794. Of the 10 schools of the Lithuanian Department, seven were post-Jesuit schools: in Grodno, Białystok, Pastawy, Vidzy, Vilnius, Vishnyev and Vawkavysk. Two of schools (in Szczuczyn Litewski and Lida), were Piarist schools. Jesuits taught at the school in Merkinė until 1776, after which the school was handed over to the Dominican Order The article brings out from oblivion ex-Jesuits, members and collaborators of the Society for Elementary Books, professors of the Vilnius Academy (later the Main School of Lithuania), general inspectors of the Commission, inspectors of parish schools, rectors of the schools of the Departments of Lithuania, Nowogrodek and Samogitia, as well as several people holding other important functions for the Commission of National Education.

On the map of schools in 18th-century Vilnius, a prominent place was occupied by the Vilnius Academy, which during the times of the Commission of National Education was called the Main School of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and after the loss of independence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Vilnius Main School. In addition to the university, there were also schools providing secondary and elementary education, as well as educational institutions. The paper is an attempt to look at the possibilities of education in Vilnius during the period of the Commission of National Education and in the years after the Commission, until the reform of Alexander I in 1803.

This article presents an aspect of 18th-century Vilnius history that has received little attention in historiography – the situation of beggars in urban society: the legal regulation of begging is analysed, looking at how it changed during the period, the opportunities of beggars to participate in religious life in Vilnius, the necessity of beggars for the rest of urban society and how the situation of this social class had changed in Vilnius towards the end of the century. Referencing mostly normative and other sources compiled by members of the Catholic Church, the author shows that the situation of beggars in the city was significantly transformed at the very end of the century – before then, the role of beggars in Vilnius society could be considered as typical of traditional medieval and early modern period Christian communities.

This article uses the last wills and testaments of 18th-century Vilnius burghers to analyse the degree of attention they paid to the education of their children, presenting their attitudes to this issue prior to the establishment of the Commission of National Education and after 1773. The author attempts to gain insight to the changes that occurred and to assess whether Enlightenment ideas and the founding of the Commission of National Education had an influence on the attitudes of Vilnius’ inhabitants on the education of their offspring, and whether the last wills and testaments from the last quarter of the 18th century dedicated more attention to children’s education.