The Science and Encyclopedia Publishing Center of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library and the Judaica Research Center there are pleased to announce the publication of a Lithuanian translation of Cecile Esther Kuznitz’s acclaimed monograph “YIVO and the Making of Modern Jewish Culture: Scholarship for the Yiddish Nation.”.

The book presentation will take place at 6:00 P.M on October 21 in the Conference Hall (5th floor) of the National Library. The event will feature the author Cecile Esther Kuznitz, professor of history and director of Jewish Studies at Bard College; Laimonas Briedis, cultural geographer and Vilnius researcher; and Jolanta Mickutė, scholar of Eastern European Jewish history. The discussion will be moderated by Lara Lempertienė, director of the Judaica Research Center.

Originally published in English in 2014, “YIVO and the Making of Modern Jewish Culture” is the first comprehensive history of the YIVO founded in Vilnius in 1925. As the only in-depth study of the institute’s activities in Vilnius before World War II, the publication of a Lithuanian translation is a long-awaited and significant cultural event.

In her monograph Kuznitz explores YIVO’s mission, the decision to establish the institute in Vilnius and the significance of Yiddish language studies. She highlights the contributions of the collectors (Yiddish zamlers) who helped build YIVO’s vast archive through their ethnographic and historical fieldwork. The book also examines the complex relationship between Jewish cultural and political life, and offers an insightful analysis of the phenomenon of diaspora nationalism.

Kuznitz is associate professor of history and director of Jewish Studies at Bard College. She was graduated with honors at Harvard and earned her doctorate from Stanford University. Her scholarly work has appeared in the YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe (2008), the Encyclopaedia Judaica (2007), the Worlds of S. An-sky (2006), the Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies (2002) and in Yiddish Language and Culture: Then and Now (1998). She also taught at Georgetown University and held research fellowships and internships at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Oxford University and the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

The publication of this translation coincides with the 100th anniversary of YIVO. In collaboration with Lithuanian and international partners, the Lithuanian National Library has a program of events to mark the centennial with the release of this important volume as one of its highlights.

The book was translated from English by Olga Lempert. The scientific editor is Lara Lempertienė, editor Rasa Lajienė and book designer Saulius Bajorinas.

The publication of the book is partly funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania.

Time: 6:00 P/</. October 21
Place: 5th floor, Lithuanian National Library, Vilnius