Adolfas Šapoka

Adolfas Šapoka (13 February 1906 – 9 March 1961) was a prominent Lithuanian medieval historian. He attended lectures at both Prague University and Stockholm University before becoming a prominent lecturer himself at the Vytautas Magnus and Vilnius universities. Šapoka contributed to the development of the Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija as well as medieval historiography in interwar Lithuania. In 1944 he and his family moved to Germany and in 1946 moved again to Canada, where he died. Šapoka's most widely known contribution is "Lietuvos istorija", a study of Lithuania's history from the Baltic Tribes period up to his present-day.

Biography Early life Adolfas Šapoka was born on 13 February 1906 in the village of to Juozapas Šapoka and Konstancija Mikulėnaitė. He attended school in Utena. In 1925 he finished the Panevėžys gymnasium and entered Vytautas Magnus University. He studied with historians Jonas Yčas, Ignas Jonynas, Augustinas Janulaitis, and Lev Karsavin. In 1929 he graduated from the Faculty of Humanitarian Sciences.

Activity abroad and in Lithuania From 1930 to 1931 Šapoka studied at Charles University in Prague. In 1933 he traveled to Stockholm and attended special courses for foreign historians, as well as collected documents from archives. From 1932 Šapoka was a lecturer at the Vytautas Magnus University.

Historical work and publications

Šapoka was known for logical intellect and analytical thinking. "Lietuvos istorija" was a successful and prominent contemporary publication with record-hitting sales, being used as a study guide for future academics. It garnered much attention from the public, with a record of 17,500 sales. The publication remained an important work for those studying the history of Lithuania for several decades to come. It was re-released in 1989 and sold over 100,000 copies and 155,000 copies in 1990. Šapoka is also known for his publications on Lithuanian medieval history. It was colloquially known as "Šapokos istorija" (Šapokas's History).