Vilnius Jesuit High School

Vilnius Jesuit High School Lithuanian: Vilniaus jėzuitų gimnazija


Location

Vilnius Lithuania
Coordinates	54°40′42″N 25°17′22″E / 54.67833°N 25.28944°E / 54.67833; 25.28944
Information
Type	Private gymnasium
Religious affiliation(s)	Catholicism
Denomination	Jesuits
Established	1570; 453 years ago (1570)
Principal	Edita Šičaitė, SSC
Staff	59
Grades	5 through 12
Enrollment	716
Language	Lithuanian German English
Affiliation	German Foreign Office
Website	www.vjg.lt

Vilnius Jesuit High School (Lithuanian: Vilniaus jėzuitų gimnazija) is a private Catholic gymnasium, located in Vilnius, Lithuania. Founded in 1570 by members of the Jesuit order, the school provides an education from grades 5 through to grade 12. The school is considered to be one of the most renowned schools in Lithuania and is aided by the German Federal Foreign Office.^[1]

History

Vilnius Jesuit High School could be one of the oldest schools in Lithuania, if the current school is considered the successor to the Jesuit Collegium which was turned into Vilnius University during the confrontation between Lithuanian Protestants and Lithuanian Catholics during the Reformation period.

Collegium Vilnense Societati Jesu was established in 1570, with the first rector, Stanislaw Varševickis, S.J., teaching logic, mathematics, theology, and Hebrew. After the suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773, the school did not reopen until 1921 with 135 boys. By 1938 there were 580 in the gymnasium. Disrupted in 1939 during the Soviet occupation, the school was reopened in its present status only in 1995 with 336 students and 54 teachers, classes 5 through 11. Lithuanian, German, and English were taught. In 1999 it received the humanities gymnasium status.