Monument for Vincas Kudirka

The monument for Vincas Kudirka (1858-1899), built in Tauragė by the ideologists of the Lithuanian national revival movement, changed its location several times. The first time it was built was near the administration building (Dariaus ir Girėno Street 45) of Tauragė volost in 1930 for the 500th death anniversary of Vytautas the Great. In 1911-1916, this was the location of the monument for the Russian emperor Alexander II. During the years of World War I, the emperor disappeared and the pedestal was used for the bust of Vincas Kudirka. The official opening and consecration of the monument, celebrated in the beautifully decorated city, took place on 8 September.
The general composition of the monument was relevant to the Interwar period. A lot of attention was focused on the two-level pedestal. The lower part of the pedestal features a high relief of the writer’s surname and the first letter of his name, as well as the dates of his birth and death, with the first lines of the National Anthem below. The upper part of the pedestal features a high relief of Vytis, encircled with an oval frame. The entire composition is complete with the bust of V. Kudirka.
The words from the National Anthem, Lithuanian and Samogitian coats of arms, as well as the Pillars of Gediminas were destroyed during the “renovation” of the monument in 1960. In 1968, the monument was completely demolished, but the bust itself survived. In 1969, Juozas Šimkus, Head of the Department of Culture of the region, had the bust put on a modest pedestal near the Culture House instead of the demolished monument for Vladas Putvinskis-Pūtvis, founder of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union. It stood there until 1990.
During the period of the national revival, the folk artist Antanas Bagdonas from Tauragė and his congenial colleagues initiated the restoration of the pedestal according to the remaining iconographic material (as it was in 1930) with the bust of Vincas Kudirka on top. The monument was built in the square near Martynas Mažvydas Evangelical Lutheran Church, in the modern-day park of the Bishop Jonas Viktoras Kalvanas. The official consecration ceremony took place on 1 September 1990.
Vincas Kudirka, one of the most famous ideologists of the Lithuanian national revival movement, author of the lyrics and music of the National Anthem of the Republic of Lithuania, physician, writer, poet, publicist, translator and editor of Varpas newspaper was born on 31 December 1858, in Paežeriai village, Vilkaviškis county. He died on 16 November 1899 and was buried at Meištai Cemetery (Kudirkos Naumiestis, Šakiai district).

Compiled in 2018