Dvasininkai Vilniaus laikinosios archeologijos komisijos veikloje

ENParticipation of the clergy as a social class in the activity of the Vilnius Temporary Archaeological Commission has not been widely analysed or, all the more, generalised in a paper or study. In the meantime, members of the clergy of the main Christian denominations—Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant - did participate in the work of the Commission. Certainly, the majority were Catholic clergymen, among them Archbishop Wacław Żyliński (1803-1863) and two bishops, Bishop of Vilnius Adam Stanisław Krasiński (1810-1891) and Bishop of Samogitia (Telšiai) Motiejus Valančius (Maciej Wołonczewski, 1801-1875). The hierarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church - the Metropolitan Archbishop of Lithuania and Vilnius Joseph (Иосиф Иосифович Семашко, 1798-1868) and the Archbishop of Riga Platon (Николай Иванович Городецкий, 1803-1891) were full members. In the beginning, the Archimandrite and Rector of the Vilnius Eastern Orthodox Seminary Alexander (Андрей Васильевич Добрынин, 1820-1885) had been elected a full member of the Commission, but already in its second session refused to take part in its activity. It was not until the Metropolitan Archbishop Joseph was elected a full member that the Archimandrite Alexander expressed a wish to resume work in this institution; the Metropolitan Archbishop granted his permission and the Commission reinstated him as a full member. The General Superintendent of the Evangelical Reformers Stefan Lipiński (1805-1879) also became involved in the work of the Commission.In 1856, the Karaite priests, Abraham Firkowicz (Авраам Самуилович Фиркович, 1787-1874) and Gabriel Firkowicz (Гавриил Семенович Фиркович), became subscriber members. Clergymen of the Christian denomination are at the centre of attention in this research. The minutes of the Commission’s sessions show that quite many members did not participate in the Commission’s activity. Other clergymen, in particular those who lived in Vilnius, usually attended the sessions. However, the main form of activity was donation of various antiquities to the museum. In this respect, the Reverend Józef Malyszewicz (1804-1891), the Reverend Ignacy Kozłowski (1832-1898) and the Inspector of the Saratov Roman Catholic Spiritual Seminary, Canon Antoni Rajuniec (1817-1884), deserve a separate mention. The prelate and historiographer of the Vilnius Cathedral Chapter, Mamert z Fulsztyna Herburt (1789-1873), most actively contributed to the Commission’s activity. This priest hardly missed any of its sessions and chaired several of them, took care of the manuscript material given to the Commission and donated exhibits to the museum and the library. [From the publication]