List of Vilnius-related people

The following is a list of notable people from Lithuania's capital city of Vilnius (Vilna/Wilno). It includes both the people born there and people born elsewhere but otherwise connected to it.

A

• Neringa Aidietytė, athlete^[1]
• Francišak Alachnovič, Belarusian playwright and journalist
• Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania
• Ana Ambrazienė, hurdler, former world record holder^[2]
• Michał Andriolli (1836–1893), painter
• Irena Andriukaitienė (b. 1948), politician and signature of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania
• Mark Antokolski (1843–1902), sculptor
• Laura Asadauskaitė (1984), modern pentathlon athlete^[3]

B

• Francišak Bahuševič (1840-1900), Belarusian poet
• Živilė Balčiūnaitė, long-distance runner, European champion
• Aidas Bareikis, artist^[4]
• Liutauras Barila (1974), Olympic biathlete^[5]
• Jonas Basanavičius (1851–1927), leader of Lithuania's national revival movement
• Ričardas Berankis, the top ranked Lithuanian tennis player of all time^[6]
• Mykolas Biržiška, historian of literature, politician, signer of the Act of Independence of Lithuania
• Vaclovas Biržiška, publisher, historian
• Eglė Bogdanienė, textile artist
• Kazys Bradūnas (b. 1917), poet
• Algirdas Brazauskas (1932-2010), Lithuanian President and Prime Minister
• Danutė Budreikaitė, politician and Member of the European Parliament
• Teodor Bujnicki (1907–1944), poet

C

• Saint Casimir (1458–1484), patron saint of Poland and Lithuania
• Dalius Čekuolis, politician
• Jan Karol Chodkiewicz (1560–1621), politician and hetman
• Leonard Cohen (1934), Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist; his mother Masha Cohen and maternal grandfather Rabbi Solomon Klinitsky-Klein were from the area of Wilno
• Icchak Cukierman (1915–1981), one of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

D

• Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė, actress
• Simonas Daukantas (1793–1864), historian
• Mikalojus Daukša, publisher of the first printed Lithuanian book in GDL
• Gintaras Didžiokas, politician
• Ignacy Domeyko (1801–1889), geologist and engineer
• Raminta Dvariškytė (1990), Olympic swimmer^[7]
• Felix Dzerzhinsky (1877-1926), founder of the Soviet secret police
• Audrius Dzikaras, painter

G

• Romain Gary (1914–1980), French writer
• Martynas Gecevičius, basketball player
• Gediminas (1275–1341), Grand Duke of Lithuania, founder of Vilnius city
• Petras Geniušas (b. 1961), classical pianist
• Marija Gimbutas (1921–1994), archeologist
• Rolandas Gimbutis, swimmer^[8]
• Liudas Gira (1894–1946), poet, writer, and literary critic
• Johann Christoph Glaubitz (c. 1700-1767), architect
• Kęstutis Glaveckas (b. 1949), politician and signature of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania
• Antoni Gorecki (1787–1861), writer, poet, soldier
• Albertas Goštautas, Chancellor of Grand Duchy of Lithuania
• Mindaugas Griškonis (1986), Olympic rower^[9]
• Hubertas Grušnys (1961–2006), media proprietor, in 1989 launched the first-ever private radio station in Lithuania and the post-communist Eastern Europe
• Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of Lithuania
• Laurynas Gucevičius (1753–1798), architect
• Daina Gudzinevičiūtė (1965), shooter, Olympic gold medalist^[10]

H

• Jascha Heifetz (1901–1987), violinist

I

• Juozas Imbrasas, former mayor of Vilnius
• Jurga Ivanauskaitė (1961–2007), writer

J

• Edgaras Jankauskas (b. 1975), first Lithuanian footballer to win the UEFA Champions League in 2004
• Gintaras Januševičius, pianist
• Simas Jasaitis, basketball player
• Rolandas Jasevičius, boxer
• Paweł Jasienica
• Jakub Jasiński (1761–1794)
• Jogaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania
• Arvydas Juozaitis, swimmer, Olympic bronze medalist^[11]
• Eglė Jurgaitytė, singer

K

• Virgilijus Kačinskas (b. 1959), architect, politician and signature of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania
• Lina Kačiušytė (1963), swimmer, Olympic gold medalist^[12]
• Saint Raphael Kalinowski
• Mieczysław Karłowicz (1876–1909), composer
• Rimantas Kaukėnas, basketball player
• Antanas Kavaliauskas (b. 1984), professional basketball player, 2005 FIBA Under-21 World Championship gold medalist
• Valdas Kazlauskas, athlete and coach
• Vytautas Kernagis (1951-2008), singer-songwriter, considered a pioneer of Lithuanian sung poetry
• Rebeka Kim, figure skater
• Gediminas Kirkilas, former Prime Minister of Lithuania
• Szymon Konarski
• Oskaras Koršunovas (b. 1969), theatre director
• Simon Kovar (born Kovarski) (1890–1970), bassoonist
• Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska
• Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, writer
• Andrius Kubilius, Prime Minister of Lithuania
• Jonas Kubilius, mathematician who works in probability theory and number theory
• Abraomas Kulvietis, reformer, publicist
• Jolanta Kvašytė, ceramic artist

L

• Vytautas Landsbergis (b. 1932), politician, contributed to the demise of the Soviet Union
• Joachim Lelewel (1786–1861), historian
• Romas Lileikis, poet, musician, film director
• Michalo Lituanus, publicist, humanist of the 16th century
• Józef Łukaszewicz
• Meilė Lukšienė, cultural historian and activist

M

• Józef Mackiewicz (1902–1985), writer
• Andrius Mamontovas, singer
• Gritė Maruškevičiūtė, Miss Lithuania 2010^[13]
• Raimundas Mažuolis, swimmer, olympic medalist
• Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855), poet
• Jeronimas Milius, singer^[14]
• Czesław Miłosz (1911–2004), poet, Nobel prize in Literature
• Vytautas Miškinis, music composer and professor
• Gediminas Motuza, geologist and author of geology textbooks

N

• Onutė Narbutaitė (b. 1956), composer
• Ludwik Narbutt (1832–1863), military commander
• Teodor Narbutt (1784–1864), historian
• Eimuntas Nekrošius (b. 1952), theatre director
• Henryk Niewodniczański (1900–1968), physicist

O

• Nijolė Oželytė-Vaitiekūnienė (b. 1954), actress and signature of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania

P

• Bohdan Paczyński (b. 1940), astronomer
• Rolandas Paksas, former Lithuanian president and mayor of Vilnius
• Jerzy Passendorfer (1923–2003), film director
• Artūras Paulauskas (b. 1953), former speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas
• Józef Piłsudski, politician, military commander and Polish head of state
• Emilia Plater (1806–1831), revolutionary and female military commander
• Kazimierz Plater (1915–2004), chess master
• Martynas Pocius (b. 1986), professional basketball player, member of the Lithuanian national basketball team, 2010 FIBA World Championship bronze medalist
• Karol Podczaszyński (1790–1860), architect
• Romualdas Požerskis (b. 1951), photographer

R

• Barbara Radziwiłł (Barbora Radvilaitė) (1520–1551), Queen of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
• Mykolas Riomeris, rector of Vytautas Magnus University, lawyer
• Michał Józef Römer (1778–1853), writer and politician
• Audrius Rudys (b. 1951), economist, politician and signature of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania
• Ferdynand Ruszczyc (1870–1936), painter

S

• Lew Sapieha (1557–1633), politician and military commander
• Maciej Sarbiewski
• Šarūnas Sauka (b. 1958), postmodern painter
• Andrew Schally (b. 1926), US endocrinologist, Nobel Prize winner
• Kazimierz Siemienowicz (ca 1600 - ca 1651), military commander, engineer, theorist of artillery and pioneer of rocketry
• Konstantinas Sirvydas, lexicographer, writer
• Piotr Skarga (1536–1612), theologian, writer and the first rector of the Wilno Academy
• Francysk Skaryna, publisher, regarded as a publisher of first printed Ruthenian (sometimes credited as Old Belarusian) Bible
• Boris Skossyreff, King of Andorra
• Mykolas Sleževičius, lawyer, Prime Minister of Lithuania
• Juliusz Słowacki, poet
• Antanas Smetona, publicist, President of Lithuanian Republic
• Elijah ben Solomon, Gaon mi Vilna (1720–1797), Jewish scholar and Kabbalist
• Jędrzej Śniadecki (1768–1838), chemist, biologist and philosopher
• Audrius Stonys (b. 1966), renowned documentary filmmaker
• Vytautas Straižys (b. 1936), astronomer, developer of Vilnius photometric system
• Władysław Syrokomla (1823–1862), poet, writer and translator
• Deividas Šemberas, football player
• Algirdas Šemeta, economist and the European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud
• Stasys Šilingas, lawyer and statesman, a significant figure in the history of Lithuania's independence
• Tadas Šuškevičius, athlete

T

• Emanuel Tanay, Holocaust survivor and American forensic psychiatrist
• Aurimas Taurantas (b. 1956), politician and signature of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania
• Yemima Tchernovitz-Avidar (1909–98), Israeli author
• Eustachy Tyszkiewicz (1814–73), historian

V

• Alis Vidūnas, former mayor of Vilnius
• Jonas Vileišis, politician, lawyer
• Petras Vileišis, Lithuanian millionaire, mecenate, politician, publisher
• Zygmunt Vogel (1764–1826), painter
• Giedrė Voverienė, orienteering competitor
• Vytautas the Great (1344–1430), Grand Duke of Lithuania

W

• Chaim Weizmann (1874–1952), Zionist politician and the first president of Israel
• Jan Kazimierz Wilczyński (1806–1885), archaeologist
• Antoni Wiwulski (1877–1919), sculptor and architect
• Tadeusz Wróblewski, lawyer, collector

Z

• Ludwik Zamenhof (1859–1917), philologist, creator of Esperanto
• Tomasz Zan (1796–1855), poet
• Artūras Zuokas, mayor of Vilnius city municipality (2000–2007 and 2011–2015), Lithuanian politician
• Robertas Žulpa, swimmer, Olympic champion

References