Juozas Kudirka
Juozas Kudirka was a Lithuanian ethnologist, habilitated doctor of sciences in humanities.
He graduated from Vilnius University in 1965 majoring in history. His diploma work was Veiveriai Teacher's Seminary. In 1969 he earned his Candidate of Sciences degree in historical sciences after the post-graduate course at the Institute of History of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, which was soon promoted to the highest Soviet-time scientific degree of Doctor of Sciences, with the thesis Pottery in Lithuania, which in 1973 was published as a book Lietuvos puodžiai ir puodai. In 1995 he earned the dr.hab. degree in ethnology.
His works significantly contributed to the preservation and popularization of folk traditions and cultural revival of Lithuania. In particular, he was instrumental in the restoration of the calendar of traditional Lithuanian holidays in post-Soviet Lithuania.
Books
Kudirka wrote 23 books, including:Lietuvos puodžiai ir puodai Valstiečių verslai Lietuvių liaudies meno šaltiniai Lietuviai: etniniai bruožai- *Translated as The Lithuanians: An Ethnic Portrait, Lithuanian Folk Culture Centre, 1991
- Užgavėnės, about the Užgavėnės festivalLietuviškos Kūčios ir Kalėdos Lietuvių sportiniai žaidimai Vilniaus verbos, 4 volumes
- Lietuviškoji Veiverių mokytojų seminarija
- Seven popular books about holidays.
- Apso ir Pelekų lietuviškoji kultūra
- *Describes traditions of weddings, births and funerals in the two villages with Lithuanian population in BelarusPlikių kaimo papročiai.
- *Detailed descriptions of weddings and smaller descriptions of baptisms and funerals of Lithuanians in a Belarusian village, as well as some archaic custos preserved in the village
Awards
- 1999: for his research on ethnic culture in the borderlands. Significant material was collected by J. Kudirka about traditional culture in ethnic Lithuanian lands in Belarus. Part of it was used in publications about calendar holidays.