Lithuania in the News

Antanas Ulpis Beba Epstein

• ANTANAS ULPIS HUMANITARIAN AWARD COMMITTEE APPOINTED

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (https://yivo.org), together with the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania (https://www.lnb.lt/en/), has announced the appointment of the Committee for the Antanas Ulpis Humanitarian Award. The award will be given annually for contributions to furthering Lithuanian-Jewish relations and understanding. Award recipients will receive a financial honorarium of $5,000, a certificate of appreciation, and a public ceremony held in Vilnius. The committee consists of Jonathan Brent (YIVO Director), Aušrinė ilinskienė (Director General of the Martynas Mavydas National Library of Lithuania), Lara Lempert (Head of the Judaica Section of the Martynas Mavydas National Library of Lithuania), Arunas Gelunas (Director General at The Lithuanian National Museum of Art), and Alexander Rimas Domanskis (Attorney). The award is named in honor and memory of Antanas Ulpis, the Director of the Lithuanian National Book Chamber in Vilnius, from 1946-1980. In 1948, Ulpis saved thousands of Jewish books and documents from imminent destruction at the hands of the Soviets. The inaugural award is anticipated in 2025.

• ONLINE EXHIBITION SHARED WITH US LITHUANIAN SCHOOLS

The Consulate General of the Republic of Lithuania in New York (https://ny.mfa.lt/en/about-us/64) created and distributed bookmarks to Lithuanian schools across the US to draw attention to the inaugural exhibition of the YIVO Bruce and Francesca Cernia Slovin Online Museum: Beba Epstein: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Girl. The exhibition was recently translated into Lithuanian with the help of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania for use in their school system: https://museum.yivo.org/?lang=lt