Liudvikos ir Stanislovo Didžiulių sodyba-muziejus

About the museum

On the Griežionėliai farmstead, far from Anykščiai, lived the bibliographer, folklore collector and bibliophile Stanislovas Didžiulis (1856–1927) and his wife Liudvika Didžiulienė-Žmona (1856–1925), the first Lithuanian woman writer of fiction. During the period of the press ban the homestead was an important centre for distributing forbidden Lithuanian publications, and so it is now called the Centre of Book Smuggling of Eastern Aukštaitija. The Didžiuliai had a rich library, which was used by J. Jablonskis, J. Basanavičius and other enlighteners of the time.

The memorial museum on the homestead opened in 1968. The exhibition tells of the lives and activities of Liudvika and Stanislovas Didžiulis and their children – the doctor and writer Vanda Didžiulytė-Albrechtienė, the children's writer Aldona Didžiulytė-Kazanavičienė, the doctor Antanas Didžiulis, the translator Ona Didžiulytė-Sketerienė and others. The stands show family photographs, copies of manuscripts, letters, books, forbidden publications and surviving household and personal items; in the adjoining room stand the family's furniture, including a piano. In 2018, marking the 50th anniversary of the homestead museum, the exhibition was supplemented with stands on family ties and S. Didžiulis's personal library.

In the entrance hall there survives an old cupboard that hid the entrance to a partition from the gendarmes' eyes, where Lithuanian publications brought by the book smugglers were kept. Stanislovas and Liudvika Didžiuliai are buried near the homestead, in the old burial ground on Padvarninkai Hill. The homestead museum is a branch of the A. Baranauskas and A. Vienuolis-Žukauskas Memorial Museum.

Highlights

• Centre of Book Smuggling of Eastern Aukštaitija
• Exhibition on the press ban and the book smugglers
• Old cupboard that hid forbidden press
• Didžiuliai family furniture, including a piano
• The remote Griežionėliai farmstead

Permanent exhibition

• Didžiulių šeimos ir knygnešystės ekspozicija – In the homestead house the story is told of the Didžiuliai family, the period of the press ban, the feat of the book smugglers and the national awakeners; photographs, copies of manuscripts, letters, forbidden publications and family furniture are displayed.

Founded

1968

Operated by

A. Baranausko ir A. Vienuolio-Žukausko memorialinis muziejus

Admission & discounts

The price applies to a guided tour of the museum.

Accessibility

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Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

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