The exhibition “Between Medicine and Politics: the 150^th Anniversary of the Speaker of the Seimas Jonas Staugaitis” is dedicated to the centenary of restoration of the state of Lithuania and the upcoming centenary of modern Lithuanian Parliamentarism, which will be commemorated in 2020.

The exhibition aims at tracing and commemorating the personalities and events significant to Lithuanian Parliamentarism. The present exhibition is devoted to a prominent member of the Lithuanian Parliament and one of the three officials who had the highest position in the Republic of Lithuania, the Speaker of the Seimas Jonas Staugaitis.

Jonas Staugaitis, who was one of the creators of modern Lithuanian Parliamentarism, was involved in political activity since youth. When he was studying in Warsaw, he became a doctor and got involved in the activity of Lithuanian organizations. During the Russian-Japanese War and WWI, he was working as a military doctor and also continued his public activity and the role of the awakener of the nation. The active doctor in Šakiai and the creator of self-government soon became a prominent politician not only in the local sphere but also in the state.

In the first democratic elections, he was elected to the Constituent Seimas, which completed the work of reestablishing the state and implemented the oath of the Act of Lithuania’s Independence of February 16, 1918, i.e. to determine “the foundations of the state of Lithuania.” On May 15, 1920, the Constituent Seimas proclaimed the independence of Lithuania and declared Lithuania as a democratic republic. This Seimas finished its work after adopting the first permanent Constitution of the State of Lithuania.

Despite his merits creating the Lithuanian parliamentary system, Jonas Staugaitis is the person who is not very well known and represented in the Lithuanian political history. The exhibition “Between Medicine and Politics: the 150^th Anniversary of the Speaker of the Seimas Jonas Staugaitis” discusses the varied and multifaceted life of Jonas Staugaitis, a doctor, a public figure, a politician, a publisher, a member of various associations, and a charitable person.

Partners of the exhibition:

Biržai Region Museum “Sėla”

Kaunas Kazys Grinius Progymnasium

Kaunas City Museum

Kaunas Regional State Archive

The library of Kaunas University of Technology

The Lithuanian Central State Archive

The Lithuanian Special Archive

The Museum of Lithuanian Medicine and Pharmacy History

The Museum of Lithuanian Education History

The Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore

The Vrublevskiai Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Science

Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

The National Museum of Lithuania

The National Library of Poland

Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum

M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art

Šiauliai “Aušra” Museum

Vytautas the Great War Museum

The exhibition is open at Kaunas Town Hall (Rotušės sq. 15) from 1st of July till 1st of September.

The organiser of the exhibition is the Office of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.

Exhibition concept and text authors – dr. Vilma Akmenytė-Ruzgienė, Žydrūnas Mačiukas, photo editors – Rimvydas Petkevičius, Andrius Petrulevičius, designer – Neringa Motiejūnaitė-Lilienė, text editor – Jurgita Kelpšienė.