The Sejny Seminary was established by bishop Nicholas John Manugiewicz (Lithuanian: "Mykolas Jonas Manugevičius") to address shortages of Lithuanian-speaking priests. At first the seminary was small. Later, when seminaries in Tykocin (1863) and Kielce (1893) were closed and merged, the Sejny Seminary grew to 60–80 students. A large portion of the students were sons of Lithuanian peasants from Suvalkija. In 1915, during World War I, the seminary was evacuated into Russia (first Mogilev, then Saint Petersburg). In 1919 the seminary returned to Sejny, but the town was at the center of the Polish–Lithuanian War. After Polish army staged the uprising Lithuanian students and faculty were expelled into Lithuania, where the seminary continued in Zypliai and Gižai. In 1926 the Sejny Seminary was renamed to Vilkaviškis Priest Seminary and ceased to exist.