Vilnius city plan with Lithuanian street names from ‘A Guide to Vilnius’ by J. V. Narbutas

The streets of the lost capital were renamed in Lithuanian, and new names were coined, in the hope of giving it a more Lithuanian character. The Union for the Liberation of Vilnius, and especially Mykolas Biržiška, one of its founders, did notable work to this end. He compiled a list of Vilnius’ street names emphasising the Lithuanian aspect, and the artist Balys Macutkevičius (1905–1964) drew a map of the city based on the list that was published in ‘A Guide to Vilnius’ compiled by Jonas Vytautas Narbutas (Kaunas, 1938, enlarged edition 1939). The ‘Lithuanian-Polish and Polish-Lithuanian List of Vilnius Street Names’ that Biržiška compiled gave Lithuanian translations next to the Polish names, or proposed entirely new ones. Thus, Sokola Street was rendered as Sakalų, Wapienna as Kalkių, and suggestions were made to name Safjaniki as Sapnininkų Street, and Gazowa Street as Stuokos Gucevičiaus Street. Biržiška included names that had a symbolic importance in Lithuanian culture. For example, Piłsudski Street was renamed Algirdo, Silent Street was renamed Vinco Kudirkos, and Factory Street was renamed Birutės.

Text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė
Expositions: "1918-1945 / Kaunas-Vilnius", 27 August 2020 – 21 August 2021, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė.

The streets of the lost capital were renamed in Lithuanian, and new names were coined, in the hope of giving it a more Lithuanian character. The Union for the Liberation of Vilnius, and especially Mykolas Biržiška, one of its founders, did notable work to this end. He compiled a list of Vilnius’ street names emphasising the Lithuanian aspect, and the artist Balys Macutkevičius (1905–1964) drew a map of the city based on the list that was published in ‘A Guide to Vilnius’ compiled by Jonas Vytautas Narbutas (Kaunas, 1938, enlarged edition 1939). The ‘Lithuanian-Polish and Polish-Lithuanian List of Vilnius Street Names’ that Biržiška compiled gave Lithuanian translations next to the Polish names, or proposed entirely new ones. Thus, Sokola Street was rendered as Sakalų, Wapienna as Kalkių, and suggestions were made to name Safjaniki as Sapnininkų Street, and Gazowa Street as Stuokos Gucevičiaus Street. Biržiška included names that had a symbolic importance in Lithuanian culture. For example, Piłsudski Street was renamed Algirdo, Silent Street was renamed Vinco Kudirkos, and Factory Street was renamed Birutės.

Text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė
Expositions: "1918-1945 / Kaunas-Vilnius", 27 August 2020 – 21 August 2021, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė.