The Patriarch of Lithuanian National Revival Jonas Basanavičius in the Circle of Central European Culture: Biographical Aspects

Abstract

This article discusses those moments of Jonas Basanavičius’s biography that while being closely connected, in one way or another, with the cultural field of Central Europe also inspired directly Basanavičius’s life and work. When considering the role of Central Europe, one should take into account a very important moment of Basanavičius’ biography, i.e. the time when he lived in Bulgaria for twenty-five years, first in Lom Palanka and Elena, later in Varna. Although physically living in Bulgaria, he was culturally determined by and adopted historical existential experience of Central Europe, considered as a geopolitical zone of Habsburg imperial influence. This experience was clearly reflected in two spheres of Basanavičius’s life: in the national cultural work (historical cultural aspect) and in the medical practice (medical anthropological aspect). Visually speaking, he became a doctor by carefully dissecting Lithuanian history. He became a historian by insistently trying to awake the national memory and language. But if Basanavičius understood medical practice as the field of rational decisions and the application of empirical knowledge, the ancient history became for him the ground of unhindered philological improvisation.