Join the Seventh Leonidas Donskis Conference, a thought-provoking event exploring the complexities of history and historiography. Under the theme "From Black and White to Shades of Grey" the conference delves into the continuous process of investigating, assessing, and re-assessing historical events to understand what truly happened. (Read more...)
On September 21, 2023, at Vaidilos Theatre (Vilnius) the sixth Leonidas Donskis Conference will be held, organized by The Andrei Sakharov Research Centre at VDU. The conference will bring together a select group of experts to discuss Russia topic based on learned lessons from the past, putting them in a contemporary context and suggesting what steps should be taken to facilitate the above-mentioned processes. The conference will be followed by a concert in memory of Leonidas Donskis. More information and registration here.
Viktorija Voidogaitė, an educator and nun, was elected the Tolerance Man of the Year 2021 by the decision of the board of the Sugihara Foundation “Diplomats for Life”. The annual Leonidas Donskis Prize is awarded to writer, journalist and translator Rimantas Vanagas.
In honor of Leonidas Donskis, a professor at Vytautas Magnus University (Vytautas Magnus University), one of the most outstanding European thinkers, the third conference dedicated to the memory of the philosopher “Mind the Gap. Emotional Well-being and Social Solidarity during COVID-19“. Information and registration: https://www.sakharovcenter-vdu.eu/events/third-leonidas-donskis-memorial-conference/
Professor Vytautas Landsbergis, chairman of the Supreme Council-Reconstituent Seimas, as well as Presidents Valdas Adamkus and Algirdas Brazauskas have been named the most prominent figures in Lithuania over the past three decades, according to a delfit.lt/Reitingai survey. Landsbergis received 412 votes, Adamkus got 403 and Brazauskas was picked by 379 people. They are followed by ex-President Dalia Grybauskaite (364), basketball players Arvydas Sabonis (310), philosopher Leonidas Donskis (289), poet Justinas Marcinkevicius (282), singer Vytautas Kernagis (260), MEP Andrius Kubilius (258) and singer Andrius Mamontovas (227). (Read more...)
Vytautas Magnus University (VDU) is opening on Thursday the Leonidas Donskis office featuring the late philosopher`s personal book collection and his creative legacy, VDU said. Preparations for the opening of the office took almost two years and involved bringing in 90 boxes of books from the home of Leonidas and Jolanta Donskis. (Continue...)
In honor and memory of Professor Leonidas Donskis, a prominent thinker, philosopher and beloved member of Vytautas Magnus University’s community, the VMU Andrei Sakharov Research Center for Democratic Development will organize a conference, Building Bridges: Thoughts about the Other Russia, which will be held at VMU Small Hall (28 S. Daukanto g., Kaunas) on Friday 20 September, from 10 a.m. The philosopher’s memory will also be honoured at a film screening and a concert. (Continue...)
On November 19, the translation to Dutch of Leonidas Donskis’ collection of essays “The Little Europe: a Map by an Aesthete" has been launched at the Embassy of Lithuania in Brussels, Belgium. Photo gallery here. (Read more...)
For long-term efforts to strengthen civil awareness and tolerance, as well efforts to defend human rights, start and support of dialogue among those who think differently Sugihara Foundation – Diplomats for Life has awarded the first prize of Leonidas Donskis to professor in history Saulius Suziedelis. (Continue...)
Lithuania`s second-biggest city of Kaunas is planning to put up a statue of Leonidas Donskis, a prominent Lithuanian philosopher who died of a heart attack last year. (Read more...)
On 17 May, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania held a solemn event in memory of Prof. Leonidas Donskis and celebrated his contribution to the spread of European values. One of the halls at the Foreign Ministry was named the `Europe Hall` to remind our future generations about the values Prof. Donskis cherished. (Read more...)
On May 11-12, VMU will be hosting an interdisciplinary conference in memory of philosopher, VMU Professor Leonidas Donskis, entitled The Interdisciplinary Intellectual Practices and Moral Imagination of Leonidas Donskis. More information here.
At peace, prof. Leonidas Donskis:” I would be happy, if while I am still alive something similar would happen in Butrimonys… I feel a moral obligation to say Kaddish there with Jews…” (2016.08.31 Delfi TV telecast, in the context of the Moletai march). On October 23rd, 3 p.m. at the main Jewish mass grave in Butrimonys, we shall pay tribute to the memory of Leonidas Donskis. The Kaddish – by Rafailas Karpis.Everyone is welcome. (Read more...)
How is it possible? In that one moment, early in the morning at the Vilnius airport on the way from Šeteniai to Petersburg, on that Wednesday the 21st of September, when the world was celebrating the Order of the Smile and in churches people joined in a Prayer for Peace, on the anniversary of Virgil’s passing and the murder of 1159 Jewish neighbours by the death commando in Vėlučionys near Vilnius … (Continue...)
During his brief political career, Lithuanian philosopher Leonidas Donskis was an engaged defender of human rights including rights for sexual minorities, which made him stand out among other politicians from Central and Eastern Europe, stated his fellow in the European Parliament`s Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, Sophia In`t Veld of the Netherlands. (Continue...)
Leonidas Donskis died on September 21, 2016 from an apparent heart attack. He was 54. The Lithuanian Jewish philosopher and public intellectual – he was a political theorist, historian of ideas, social analyst, political commentator, and professor – was little known in the West, but is a major figure in Eastern European thought. He was also a member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2014. (Continue...)
Is Europe Falling Apart? This topic - at the heart of the discussion between Leonidas Donskis and the German writer and journalist Navid Kermani held at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. Watch the discussion here.
Leonidas Donskis discusses with the Polish writer, the founder of the Borderland Foundation and International Center of Dialogue in Krasnogruda, Poland, Krzysztof Czyzewski on what it means to live on the borderland in terms of bridging individuals, societies, and cultures. Location: Literary Cafe at the International Center of Dialogue. Watch the discussion here.
Video from this year`s ThinkEuropa Festival. What does the freedom of EU-membership entail for Eastern Europeans? Can cultural and histoical differences between Eastern- and Western Europe be united in a commen identity as an EU-citizen? Watch professor and philosopher, Leonidas Donskis, debate these issues. (Continue...)