Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1301

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.8 linear feet (2 boxes)

Language Note:

With the exception of one manuscript in English, the collection is in Lithuanian.

Preferred Citation:

Vincas Maciunas collection of Lithuanian authors' manuscripts, circa 1970s, Ms. Coll. 1301, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

circa 1970s (inclusive)

Creator:

Maciūnas, V.

Form:

Poetry, Typescripts, Short stories, and Manuscripts (documents)

Abstract:

Vincas Maciunas (1909-2003) was a Lithuanian-born author and specialist in Lithuanian literature. This collection contains manuscripts of prose and poetry manuscripts which he appears to have collected from a number of 20th century Lithuanian authors including: Kazys Almenas, Pulgis Andruisis, Kazimieras Barenas, Aloyzas Baronas, Kazys Bradunas, Liudas Dovydenas, Atanas Gustaitis, Jurgis Jankus, Kleopas Jurgelionis, Marius Katiliskis, Henrikas Nagys, Alfonsas Nyka-Niliunas, Petronele Orintaite, Kostas Ostrauskas, Henrikas Radauskas, Mykolas Vaitkis, Vidunas, and Leonardas Zitkevieius.

Vincas Maciunas was born on July 5, 1909, in Papile, Lithuania. He studied at Vytautas Magnus University and at the University of Munich, where he earned his Doctor of Philology. He worked at Vilnius University as a lecturer and as director of the University Library. In 1946, he fled from Lithuania to Germany where he taught Lithuanian literature at the Baltic University in Hamburg. Baltic University was founded in 1946, "only ten months after the end of the Second World War by exiled Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian faculty [and] reflected the passion that Baltic people fe[lt] for education," (Baltic Fund News). It appears that Maciunas worked at Baltic University for the entirety of its existence (from 1946 to 1949) as professor of Lithuanian literature and as dean of faculty of philology. He appears to have immigrated to the United States in 1949, working at the University of Pennsylvania Library until 1978.

Maciunas's research and writings focused on Lithuanian literature and authors, with a particular focus on Vincas Kreve. He authored Vincas Kreve's place in Lithuanian literature (1953) and From native Lithuania to the distant Orient : a survey of the literary heritage of Vincas Kreve (1965); and published more than 180 studies, articles, and reviews. He wrote articles about Lithuanian writers for the English language magazine Lituanus.

Maciunas was married to Genovaite Maciunas and he died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 20, 2003.

Works cited:

University of Washington. Baltic Fund News

Vincas Maciunas appears to have collected manuscripts of Lithuanian writers, possibly collecting material for a Lietuviu Rasytojai Arcjuvas (Lithuanian Writers Archive). Researchers will find handwritten and typed manuscripts of works by eighteen Lithuanian writers, arranged alphabetically by author. All materials are written in the Lithuanian language with the exception of "The Afternoon," by Marius Katiliskis, which is written in English.

There are manuscripts for both poems and prose pieces in the collection; the majority are handwritten, although there are some manuscripts that are typewritten. Some appear to be drafts with edits and corrections; while others appear to have been carefully copied before they were sent to Maciunas. Authors include: Kazys Almenas, Pulgis Andruisis, Kazimieras Barenas, Aloyzas Baronas, Kazys Bradunas, Liudas Dovydenas, Atanas Gustaitis, Jurgis Jankus, Kleopas Jurgelionis, Marius Katiliskis, Henrikas Nagys, Alfonsas Nyka-Niliunas, Petronele Orintaite, Kostas Ostrauskas, Henrikas Radauskas, Mykolas Vaitkis, Vidunas, and Leonardas Zitkevieius. These authors were born from the late 19th century to the early 1930s. Many of them seem to have left Lithuania for the United States, Great Britain and Canada.

Diacritics have, for the most part, not been added to the finding aid of this collection. The collection's processor does not read Lithuanian and has therefore relied heavily on extant transcriptions of names and titles and translation software. Names and folder titles may not always be accurate and researchers may need to examine the original documents.