Australian Lithuanian History

18.III. 1907 – 19.XII.1970 Pulgis (Fulgencijus) Andriušis was born in Lithuania in the village of Gaidžiai, near Tauragnai in the district of Utena.   He was a noted writer, literary critic and translator of books and plays.   Andriušis’ short stories are written in an eastern Lithuanian dialect. They abound with descriptions of nature and of peasant life, which is closely tied to nature.   He wrote with humour but without malice of everyday village life, a life he would have experience in his youth.   In Kaunas he studied literature at the University of Kaunas and also art at the School of Art.   He learned many foreign languages during the course of his studies and his extensive travels in Western Europe and North Africa. Andriušis began his writing career by contributing articles (as book reviews, drama critiques and essays) to various periodicals.   He continued this throughout his life writing for Australian Lithuanian newspapers and ...

To commemorate the 50 th anniversary of the proclamation of Independence of the Baltic counties in 1918, a Baltic week was held throughout Australia from 1 st to 8 th of June 1968.   Functions arranged for that week included Remembrance Services and concerts, exhibitions of Art and crafts, Baltic food display and tasking and social evening. The Baltic convention was held on the 1 st June in Adelaide as part of Baltic Week.   Held at Latvian house the convention was attended by 98 delegates (35 Estonians, 35 Latvians and 28 Lithuanians) representing communities in Adelaide Melbourne and Sydney. Mr A Krausas (Lithuanian member from Melbourne) summed up the aims, To strengthen the resistance and ties of the Baltic nations in their fight for freedom, culture is the best weapon. Being without our countries and armies, the only way we ca strive for freedom is through cultural media.   All three of us working together will have a better chance to be heard and o...