LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Akademiniai tinklai; Akademinė aplinka; Daugiakalbystė; Filomatai; Kalbos politika 1803–1832; Lotynų kalba; Prancūzų kalba; Rusų kalba; Sakytinės kalbos ir kalbos politika 1803-1832 m.; Saviugda; Tobulėjimas; Vilniaus universitetas (VU; Vilnius University); Vokiečių kalba; Švietimo politika; Academic networks; Educational politics; French; German; Language policy 1803–1832; Latin; Multilingualism; Russian; Self - development; Self-development; The Philomaths; Vernacular languages and language policy 1803 and 1832.
ENThe studies in multilingualism in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were devoted primarily to the ‘everyday’ dimension of the phenomenon. Hence, the languages the scholars focused on were Polish, Byelorussian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Yiddish, and Russian. Taking into consideration the cultural and scientifi c signifi cance of Vilnius University, its international staff as well as the students’ drive for advancement, its multilingual reality deserves more refl ection. From 1803 to 1832, Vilnius University was the educational centre for western gubernyas of the Russian Empire. Its education and science policy was Western-oriented and rooted in the Enlightenment project of knowledge exchange. Languages of instruction and academic communication were Latin, French and Polish. In the 1820s, German and Russian gained in importance. The University fostered the mobility of gifted early career researchers and excellent students by promoting study stays abroad. Some students were enthusiastic about French, English and German literature and philosophy. In addition, the majority of them and younger scholars had at least a passive knowledge of Byelorussian, Lithuanian or Ukrainian.The impressive development of Vilnius University in both the scientifi c and educational fi elds was to a great extent due to this multilingualism, although obviously there were diff erences in language competence, including receptive and mediated multilingualism. The article draws on the new research in the area of multilingualism and focuses on the role and the teaching and learning possibilities of the diff erent languages, starting with Latin. Subsequently, three modern languages (French, German and English) are subject to analysis. Special attention is paid to the signifi cant shift in the relationships between Polish and Russian and between the various vernacular languages, for in the 1820s political pressure grew on the University, and vernacular languages also became politicized. This is illustrated with the example of Byelorussian. Finally, the author demonstrates the two-fold advantages of multilingualism on the example of the Philomaths who were exiled to inner Russia in 1824. Firstly, multilingualism was seen by them as a means to accelerate cultural transfer and, thus, to educate the Polish public. Secondly, it facilitated individual successes in Russian provinces. It also allowed students and graduates from Vilnius to save, at least partly, their inner freedom and integrity. [From the publication]