Jungtinių Amerikos Valstijų lietuviai : biografijų žinynas

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: 20 amžius; JAV; Lietuviai; Išeivija; Biografijos; Žinynas; The Lithuanian XX c. history; USA; Lithuanians; Emigration; Biografies; The Catalogue.

ENThis is the first half of an intended pair of biographical dictionaries, embracing Lithuanians who have lived chiefly if not exclusively in the United States. The project is a joint venture of a Vilnius-based publishing house and the Lithuanian Research and Studies Center of Chicago. Despite some misunderstandings between the partners (cf. letter-to-the-editor, Draugas 13 April 1999), both institutions deserve plaudits for managing to produce this handsome, hardcover tome of 716 pages, replete with 1,037 photographs, accompanying 2,004 entries. Several encyclopedia staff members made lengthy visits to Chicago to gather material, culled from Lietuvių enciklopedija and Encyclopedia Lituanica, supplemented from other biographical handbooks, newspapers, clippings and responses to questionnaires. This tome attempts to include publicists, engineers, writers, artists, musicians, medical personnel, attorneys, diplomats, clergy, and religious. The illustrations are of good quality. Just to assemble photos for over half the entries required much diligence. Despite their formidable goal, the editors have achieved considerable success in this task. There are a number of admirable features in the dictionary. One is immediately struck by the mixture of birthplaces. Apart from the majority, who were natives of Lithuania, one encounters those born in St. Petersburg, Ukraine, Australia, Great Britain, and Germany. Over 10 percent of entries, i.e. 298, described second-generation Lithuanians in the United States.