Australian Lithuanian History

On April 9th, 1961 an Easter Egg exhibition was held at St Casimir’s church hall.  The Easter granny  (Velykų Bobutė) was present to give chocolate eggs out to over 100 children.  The program was instigated by A. Stepanienė, who warmly thanked all for coming to the event.    The church stage was decorated in green foliage, with a window of Easter granny house. From here  you could see the children begin their performances, of dancing, poems, games and a pageant.  Mr A Barauskas read the story of the Easter legend.  Keršytė read, M. Staugaitė and M. Blaževičiutė performed a dance.  K. Kuncaitis, V. Bardauskaitė, J. Juciutė and R. Staugaitė beautifully recited from memory an Easter poem.  R. Kubiliutė narrated a long story about the Easter bobutė.  L. Varnas and V. Gudiškis staged Easter egg painting.  N. Vyšniauskaitė and R. Kubiliutė read from works of Antanas Baranauskas, a famous Lithuanian author.   After another da...

A library was established not long after the Lithuanian House was purchased in Eastry street.  It began with an old cupboard filled with donated books. On 30 December 1962, the Library was officially opened by Juozas Bačiunas, President of the World Lithuanian Society, visiting from America.  Bačiunas was honoured by officially having his name bestowed to the Library and cutting a Lithuanian sash. The Library workers appealed to the community for further donation, and Bačiunas sent several parcels of books from America.   The ALB Adelaide Community Society donated 50 books, and later would donate books in the memory of deceased community members. After a short time the Library had over 1000 catalogued books. The Library expanded its purpose by selling books, music, Lithuanian folk art and jewellery.  Visiting authors and book launches were supported by the Library. In 1990, the Library held 3,800 books, subscribed to 18 newspapers and journals an...

The Čiurlionis Lithuanian Art Ensemble was an internationally known group of entertainers formed in 1940 in Vilnius, Lithuania, by Alfonsas Mikulskis. It was organised to keep the nationalist spirit alive in the people despite Soviet and Nazi domination. The Čiurlionis, named after the noted Lithuanian composer Mikalojus K. Ciurlionis, featured Lithuanian dance, music, and song, performed in traditional costumes. Following the second invasion of Lithuania by the Soviets in 1944, the ensemble escaped to Vienna, Austria, where they re-established and began touring Austria and Germany.  Mikulskis, founder of the Čiurlionis Art Ensemble and its director until his death, studied at the Klaipeda and Kaunas conservatories and at the Stuttgart Academy of Music. A former director of the Lithuanian Philharmonic Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, he was also a member of the Lithuanian underground during occupation. He was aided by his wife, Ona, who also studied music ...

 Vilniaus troop early 1960's   Adelaide Vilniaus troop, 1960's  Ateina naktis! Adelaide Vyciai

On the 21 June 1959, the scout troop was the first Adelaide Lithuanian organisation to celebrate their 10 th anniversary.   A ball was held, with 70 scouts attending and 80 guests.   The scout leader Vytas Neverauskas addressed the attendees, Although 10 years is not a huge milestone, the scouts over that time had held camps, meetings and balls.   Over the past 10 years, no less than 200 youth have participated.   Scouting leaves footprints that will shape future work.   Scouting is school of life for young boys and girls who will become young men and women and will guide them through challenges and work. Greetings were read from the Australian Lithuanian Scout master,   Antanas Krausas and Guides head Irma Laisvenaitė.   Good wishes were given by the Adelaide Community President, J. Janavičius, who thanked the scouts for their hard work, and for the communities’ contribution.   The President of the Women’s committee, Jasiunienė also compl...