The ancient Romans used to say: “Est nobis in usu claros viros colere.” It is a classical saying, yet not very familiar to us, especially in the form in which we present it here. What we are dealing with is something that in our milieu still has no established name, but is designated by the German word Festschrift, which has even entered English usage and usually refers to a collection of articles dedicated to a scholar celebrating a distinguished anniversary. Our Festschrift is a jubilee collection of articles prepared in honor of Professor Edvardas Gudavičius on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Taking pride in the fact that such a publication is unusual in our cultural tradition, we wish to state from the outset that it would not exist were it not for the exceptional personality of the Professor (a point all the contributors would surely agree on), and for his role in Lithuanian scholarship and culture.
Edited by Alfredas Bumblauskas