"== Attributing and classifying of personalities == 
Invitation. Your input to Culture of Lithuania is welcomed. 
Some problems of defining personalities or attributing them to certain well-known ideological systems may raise here. I propose a quite liberal variant of it, where definition may not be connected with one certain word. Necessity however to follow certain classifying remains. 

My initial ideas on this branch, the ones, concerning period of Lithuanian national Renaissance period: Some artists, writers or other cultural workers of this period are often described as  modernists. This definition is not false, but some more concrete things should be added, some specifics of Lithuania. 
We should distinguish leading ideas of the Nat. Renaissance from later modernism, which is more known for us. Cultural aspirations of the later Nat. Ren. may be defined as  modernism in a cultural context of Lithuania. But they accented also expression of Lithuanian cultural heritage, and their expression may be seen as something simply typically  Lithuanian. I mean, that such authors in as  Čiurlionis is seen as modernist in Lithuanian context, but it also (and even more) is a representative of Lithuanian culture, when in European or World-wide context. A parallel  example may be taken from literature of India. Poet  Tagore, well known Nobel price winner is known for us as a representative of culture of India. Making India more understandable and closer for western people is concerned as main his input to Western culture. But in his own country, he was seen as a modernist too, who was changing traditional cultural forms, especially stagnated ones. This way also Lithuanian cultural leaders of the N. Ren. could be seen as modernists, which were broadening cultural forms and changing stagnated ones, in Lithuanian context. They also can be seen as modernists in a wider context, but more for acquainting Western people with Lithuanian culture than for their direct input into Western culture. Čiurlionis is the best example here. 
In other way, the later Lithuanian modernists (they depended mostly to later  generation, approximately from 4th decade of the 20th century) concerned themselves part of Western modernistic movement and their main purpose (looking generally) was  to introduce Western European ideas into Lithuanian cultural life (see the table below). 
We see two different movements and two different world outlooks here. The problem is, that both movements collaborated, especially their political wings did, and interchange of ideas between them is well seen. So, many researchers don't pay attention to this difference. Especially in the Soviet period, when national ideas were officially forbidden, mixture in description of these movements was allowed. E. g. philosopher Ramūnas Bytautas, who clearly depends to the first generation, is often described as liberal. And it may be understood in a sense of the second generation (as idea of liberalism).
 

 period and generation  artists, writers, philosophers etc in a context of Lithuania in an European context The National Renaissance period, the younger generation, approx 1905 – 1930  painter and composer  Čiurlionis, painter Kazys Šimonis, poet and philosopher Vilius Storastas - Vydūnas, dramatist Sofija Kymantaitė - Čiurlionienė, poets Adomas Jakštas, Motiejus Gustaitis, Liudas Gira, composer Stasys Šimkus, philosopher Ramūnas Bytautas.  reformers and innovators of Lithuanian culture Representatives of Lithuanian culture, almost unknown before them. The period between WWI and WWII and post-war years.   poets V Mykolaitis - Putinas, Kazys Binkis, writer Ignas Šeinius – Jurkūnas, artists: all 'ars' group,  philosopher Juozas Girnius  Modernists, introducing new Western ideas into Lithuanian cultural life  Central European modernism. 
Note: Lists of personalities isn't complete here, nor it's made precisely by prominence. 
 07:51, 2004 Jul 16 (UTC)

"