Claim: Vytautas Merkys studied history and philology at the Vilnius University, graduating in 1951, and was awarded for his doctoral dissertation in 1969.
Evidence: Vytautas Merkys graduated from Vilnius University's department of history and philology in 1951. He initiated his candidacy for a doctorate of philosophy degree in 1957 with the thesis Revoliucinis Vilniaus miesto darbininkų judėjimas 1895–1904 m. (The Revolutionary Movement of Vilnius City Workers from 1895 to 1904), and in 1969 he was awarded a doctorate (the Soviet equivalent of habilitation) for his dissertation Lietuvos pramonės augimas ir proletariato formavimasis XIX amžiuje (The Growth of Lithuanian Industry and the Formation of the Proletariat in the 19th Century).