In May 2026, Lithuanian-American philanthropist Juozas Sidas Sidzikauskas established a €100,000 endowment sub-fund named after Vaclovas Sidzikauskas. The investment returns of this sub-fund will ensure sustainable financing for a named award and other initiatives at the VU Faculty of History.

Philanthropist Juozas Sidas Sidzikauskas and the VU Faculty of History

The patron, J. Sidas Sidzikauskas, has been supporting the VU Faculty of History since 2017, with his total philanthropic contribution exceeding €200,000. Through his support, he consistently honors the memory of his uncle, Vaclovas Sidzikauskas, a well-known interwar Lithuanian lawyer, diplomat, and public figure.

Vaclovas Sidzikauskas (1893–1973) was a Lithuanian lawyer and distinguished diplomat. He studied law in Moscow and Bern. Between 1919 and 1934, he held various diplomatic posts in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, and at the League of Nations, and also represented Lithuania in cases before The Hague. In addition, he lectured, led organizations, and contributed to the press.

Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dovas Zaunius and Lithuanian Envoy to Berlin Vaclovas Sidzikauskas

Following the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, he withdrew to Germany, where he was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in concentration camps for “anti-German activities.” He spent 20 months in the Soldau and Auschwitz concentration camps. The Nazi authorities targeted him in retaliation for his active role in defending Lithuania’s interests in the Klaipėda Region, particularly for the 1932 victory at the Permanent Court of International Justice in The Hague, where Lithuania won its case against Germany concerning the dismissal of the chairman of the Klaipėda Directorate and the dissolution of the regional parliament.

After the war, he remained actively engaged in Lithuanian émigré political activities, serving as chairman of the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Freedom Committee. From 1950, he lived in the United States.

THE VACLOVAS SIDZIKAUSKAS AWARD

In 2017, the Vaclovas Sidzikauskas Award was also established for research in the field of historical studies. The award is presented annually during the Faculty’s end-of-academic-year celebration at St. John’s Church. Recipients of the Vaclovas Sidzikauskas Award include:

• Doc. Dr. Marija Drėmaitė (2017) – For research on interwar and Soviet-era Lithuanian architecture (monographs: A Meteor of Progress: Modernization and Industrial Architecture in Lithuania 1918–1940, Vilnius: Lapas, 2016; and Baltic Modernism. Architecture and Housing in Soviet Lithuania, Berlin: DOM Publishers, 2017).

• Dr. Tomas Vaiseta (2018) – For research on the history of psychiatry in Lithuania (monograph: Summerhouse, Vilnius: Lapas, 2018).

• Prof. Dr. Arūnas Streikus (2019) – For the monograph The Collectivization of Thought: Censorship in Soviet Lithuania, Vilnius: Naujasis Židinys-Aidai, 2018.

• Doc. Dr. Eligijus Raila (2020) – For the monograph Lithuanian Moses: The Life and Illness of Jonas Basanavičius, Vilnius: Naujasis Židinys-Aidai, 2020.

• Dr. Norbertas Černiauskas (2021) – For the scholarly study 1940: The Last Summer of Lithuania, Vilnius: Aukso žuvys, 2021.

• Prof. Dr. Arūnas Streikus (2022) – (award citation not specified in the provided text).

• Doc. Dr. Nerijus Šepetys (2023) – (award citation not specified in the provided text).

• Dr. Aelita Ambrulevičiūtė, Prof. Dr. Marija Drėmaitė, and Giedrė Polkaitė-Petkevičienė (2024) – For the bilingual book series Houses That Talk (2018, 2024) and the monograph The Modernization of Residential Infrastructure and Urban Development in Vilnius, 1870–1940 (2022).