Biblioteka im. Emilii i Eustachego Wróblewskich w Wilnie

Abstract

This article presents the history of the Wróblewski Library in Vilnius from the beginning of its existence to October 1939, i.e. the capture of the city by the Soviet army, when the occupational authorities decided to transport the most valuable part of the collection (concerning Vilnius, Lithuania, and Freemasonry) deep into the territory of the Soviet Union, in order to “protect it from the turmoil of war”. The fate of most of this collection is unknown until today. The history of the Library has been divided into three periods. The first one was the period when Tadeusz Wróblewski created his collection of books for his own use, still, with an idea to make it accessible to others at some point in the future. This period lasted from 1900 to 1912, when the Society of the E.E. Wróblewski Library was established; this organization was responsible for the maintenance of the collection and for rendering it accessible to the public. Setting up the Society marks the beginning of the second period of the Library’s history, in which the collection was handed over to the Society; in that time, however, T.Wróblewski directed the Library himself and maintained it financially. This lasted till his death in 1925. Then the Library entered the third, crucial period of its history, which lasted until 1939. In these years the Library thrived, functioning as a regional library, and became the seventh greatest state-governed library in the whole country. The author of the article also points to the necessity of further research into the history of the Library, especially into the questions of its fate during the World War II and afterwards.