„Gražiausi kriškščioniškos meilės artimui paminklai“ – XIX a. Vilniaus laikraščių pranešimai apie miesto vaikų globos įstaigas
| Title in English | "The most beautiful monuments of Christian love": the articles about the Institutions for the Children at Risk in Nineteenth-century Vilnius Newspapers |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2021 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the articles on charity or philanthropy in East Central European newspapers were rare occasions for the inhabitants of the town to appear in newspapers. They were also occasions for the propagation of modern values, such as social integration, religious tolerance or meritocratic idea of elites. This paper analysed nineteenth-century Vilnius newspaper discourse from this respect and compared it with contemporary variation in the newspapers of Habsburg Empire. In the middle of the century, Vilnius, as many other East Central European towns, was seized by the fashion of establishing institutions for the children at risk. Due to the political situation after the uprising of 1831, Vilnius elites were not able to compete other Central European towns by establishing philanthropic institutions for the children with special handicaps or need. Vilnius newspaper discourse reflected a more archaic inclination to charity: it agitated for providing food, asylum and education within the frame of the original social status of the child. Historiography on the topic usually maintains that the Russian government intervened in this sphere with the goal to assure education of children of unclear origin in Russian Orthodox religion and later on to use children asylums for spreading Orthodoxy. The paper did not contradict this thesis, but demonstrated, that Vilnius newspapers at least until 1863 propagated religious tolerance and cooperation of multi-confessional groups of people for humane goals rather than Orthodoxy. |
| Related projects: |