Engineer and philantropist Jonas Vengris (1876–1935)

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the biography of engineer Jonas Vengris (1876–1935). This figure deserves the attention of researchers as one of the first Lithuanian intellectuals to complete higher education and achieve a successful professional career during the Tsarist era, as well as for his extensive social activities and special connection with Vilnius and his native Lithuania. While working in leadership position in the coal mines of southwestern Poland, he bought a house in Vilnius. He settled his family there and became known as a generous philantropist of the Lithuanian community (together with others, he bought a spacious mansion for the Lithuanian hospital). He and his wife Józefa raised four children (including the well-known zoologist and entomologist Dr. Janina Wengris). They all not only spoke but also wrote in Lithuanian. Vengris could be compared to Vilnius Archbishop Jurgis Matulaitis, who, unlike many of his compatriots of the same generation, did not feel hostility towards Poles and was inclined to communicate and cooperate with them. Having built a successful professional career, he was a major figure in the Polish mining industry and related social life and was awarded the Gold Cross of Merit by Poland (1933), most likely the first Lithuanian to receive this honor. His daughter, Dr. Janina Wengris, was also awarded the Gold Cross of Merit (1952).