User talk:OldAl

Labas, Algimantai! Maybe you will be interested in this project WP:LITH. Cheers, M.K. 10:38, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Thank you for your message. Regarding your question, Pasaulio Lietuvių Bendruomenė is not written article (probably it should have an English name), if you have time and proper references you are welcome to write it. Cheers, M.K. 10:58, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I will tweak this article a bit in upcoming days. M.K. 10:20, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * As promised I made some improvements to article (spelling not counts :) ), you can find it in this location. Fell free to adjust it as you like, tweak grammar, spelling, expand or remove parts, etc. You are also welcome do to this on my page. Cheers, M.K. 12:43, 5 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks for adjustments. It would be great if you could write more on Australia's branch of LWC. M.K. 13:59, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Hello
Thank you for the message and, of course, for the article! It's glad to hear you liked that changes. I wasn't too sure if you would approve some of them. It's rather sad that so many of the signatories to the Act of March 11 are still non-existent on Wikipedia. So much to do, so little time... I hope all is well "down under" and I surely hope to see you around. If you need any help with all-things-Wikipedia, you can always ask me. Renata (talk) 07:33, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

= The Lithuanian World Community =

In Lithuanian, Pasaulio Lietuvių Bendruomenė. It is an organisation that facilitates communication between the Lithuanian communities in various countries. The Lithuanian World Community maintains representation in the Lithuania http://www.plbc.org/

Lithuanian Communities outside of Lithuania are members of the The Lithuanian World Community. It is closely associated with the roots in Lithuania. The offices of the representative of The Lithuanian World Community in Vilnius are within the Parliament of Lithuania (Lithuanian Seimas) http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter/w5_show?p_r=48&p_k=1 It's and indication of close ties between diaspora Lithuanians and Lithuania.

The President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus http://www.president.lt/en/news.full/6925 has described the obejectives of The Lithuanian World Community as follows:

07.08.2006

Monday, August 7. (Vilnius). President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus attended the opening ceremony of the World Lithuanian Community XII Seimas.

In his address to the World Lithuanian Community Seimas, President Adamkus said that the objectives set many years ago – to preserve the Lithuanian identity of those living far away from Lithuania, to develop links with their homeland, the land of their parents and grandparents, to foster the Lithuanian community feeling and readiness to act in the common interest – had retained their significance.

Mr. Adamkus pointed out that the World Lithuanian Community was also facing new challenges which had to be accepted and dealt with because many Lithuanian had left their homeland in the past several years.

“I am convinced that the World Lithuanian Community is ready to meet new challenges and that it will remain a strong community in a global society, uniting Lithuanians from all over the world,” said Mr. Adamkus. The president noted that language was one of the main expressions of national and individual identity. He further underlined the necessity of making the education of foreign Lithuanians a real state priority. “The world Lithuanian community is an integral part of the Nation. You must know and understand that you are greatly needed by Lithuania which is concerned about all of you. Your history is our history. Lithuania of the world comprises a totality of cultural activities carried on by Lithuanians inside and outside Lithuania,” said Mr. Adamkus.

The president recalled a sad anniversary: the forced exile of Lithuanians to the East and West which started 65 years ago. Mr. Adamkus further said that historic memory could neither be lost or distorted.

“The issues faced by newly emerging Lithuanian communities should not overshadow the State’s primary concern over the fate of those born in exile and their descendants. We have to be creative in uniting our experience and innovations, traditions and modern advances ,” noted Mr. Adamkus.

The president pointed out that the World Lithuanian Community had emerged as a specific means of organizing the democratic and communal-lifestyle of foreign Lithuanians, while its organizational structure had become a priceless national heritage and a sound basis for future activities.

”The community feeling, which is the underlying basis for the activities carried on by the World Lithuanian Community, means the ability to admit that we need each other, that we seek to find common solutions, respect other points of view, support each other and live together in solidarity. Such a community feeling is mandatory for a healthy society and prerequisite for democratic prosperity,: said Valdas Adamkus.

Press Service of the President

The exodus of Lithuanians from Lithuania had three principal waves:

Wave 1: Before the First World War

Wave 2: Deportations during the Soviet occupations and exodus before the second Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1943

Wave 3: After Lithuanian restored independence during the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990.

Whilst the makeup, needs and desires of the three waves were widely different, The Lithuanian World Community does its best to bridge the differences and exemplify the common ancestry of all Lithuanians that reside outside of Lithuania.

= Virgilijus Juozas Čepaitis =

Introduction
(November 8, 1937 in Šakiai, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian publisher and translator, best known for his involvement in Sąjūdis, independence movement. He was the Executive Secretary of Sąjūdis and member of the Initiative Group of that organisation. He was also a signatory of Declaration of the Restoration of Independence of Lithuania on March 11, 1990.

In 1961 Čepaitis was awarded a Diploma of Moscow Institute of Literature. Čepaitis is married with Auksuolė Čepaitienė. They have three children and live in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Positions held

 * 1958–1988 – free-lance translator;
 * 1988–1989 – the chief-editor of the film company "ARS";
 * 1989–1990 – the executive secretary of the Sąjūdis Movement;
 * 1990–1992 – Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Committee for Civil Rights and Ethnic Minorities;
 * Chairman of the Sąjūdis faction, the member of the Lithuanian delegation in the negotiations with Russia in 1990–1991. Head of the Lithuanian delegation in the non-official negotiations with the Soviet Union in Hague, organised by De Burght consultations, 1991;
 * 1993–1996 – the chief-editor of the publishing company "Litera";
 * 1996–2001 – the director of the publishing company "Tvermė".
 * Since 2001 – the owner of the publishing company "Librum"

Social and political positions

 * Since 1968 – member of the Lithuanian Writers Union;
 * 1988 – member of the Initiative Group of the Lithuanian Reform Movement (Sąjūdis);
 * 1988–1990 – member of the Sąjūdis' Seimas Council;
 * 1989–1994 – Chairman of the Lithuania-Poland Association;
 * 1990–1992 – Chairman of the Independence Party;
 * 1990–1992 – Chairman of Stasys Šalkauskis Cultural Foundation;
 * Since 2003 – member of Lithuanian Translators Union.
 * Since 1993 – member of the Association of Signatories of the Independence Act

Literary Works
Čepaitis has translated 59 books, namely translations from English to Lithuanian (stories and plays of A. A. Milne, J. O'Neal, W. Saroyan, J. Thurber, T. Williams, etc); books from Lithuanian to Russian (novels and stories of Lithuanian writers J. Aputis, J. Avyžius, J. Baltušis, V. Bubnys, R. Granauskas, R. Lankauskas, J. Mikelinskas, Kazys Saja, Ieva Simonaitytė, V. Sirijos Gira, etc); books from Polish to Russian (stories and plays of T. Karpowicz, S. Lem, S. Mrozek, etc).

He is the author of a screenplay for the film "Virto ąžuolai (Oak-trees Fell)" (1976).

Awards

 * The Medal of Lithuanian Independence (awarded on July 1, 2000)
 * The Award of Commemoration of Lithuania's membership of NATO (awarded on July 25, 2002)

Category:1937 births Category:Lithuanian publishers (people) Category:Lithuanian politicians Category:Lithuanian translators

Virgilijus Juozas Čepaitis OldAl (talk) 07:06, 29 July 2008 (UTC)