The Bank of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences decided this year to grant the Vladas Jurgutis Award to the well-known historian Dr Gediminas Vaskela for his monograph “National Aspects in Lithuania’s Economic Policy, 1919–1940.”
“In modern science, interdisciplinary sciences are becoming increasingly popular, which is confirmed by the scientific work conducted by Gediminas Vaskela, linking history to economics. This is, undoubtedly, a contribution to the theory of economic thought, worthy of this prestigious award,” said Dr Raimondas Kuodis, Deputy Chair of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, member of the Commission for Granting Vladas Jurgutis Award.
The monograph “National Aspects in Lithuania’s Economic Policy in 1919–1940” by G. Vaskela analyses the distribution of Lithuanian residents by nationality and branch of the economy. By invoking quantitative statistical and econometric methods, the historian attempts to evaluate the place and significance of individual nations in the structure of the Lithuanian economy that those nations had in the period under review.
The Commission for Granting the Vladas Jurgutis Award decided to propose to the Board of the Bank of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences to grant the Vladas Jurgutis Award 2015 for this monograph. G. Vaskela’s work was nominated to the Commission by the Lithuanian Institute of History.
The Vladas Jurgutis Award was established in 1997 by the Bank of Lithuania to mark the merits of Vladas Jurgutis — professor, academician, the first Governor of the Bank of Lithuania — in banking in Lithuania. The Award is granted for significant scientific works in the last five years in the fields of banking in Lithuania, finance, monetary and macroeconomic research.
In cooperation with the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, the Bank of Lithuania has been granting the Vladas Jurgutis Award since 2008. Currently, the Award amounts to EUR 15,000.
According to the regulations on the granting of the Award, winners of the Award are publicly announced on Vladas Jurgutis’ birthday — 5 November. This year’s winner will be honoured in December this year during the solemn ceremony of the Award giving, organised by the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences in Vilnius.
Vladas Jurgutis was one of the most eminent personalities in interwar Lithuania, a politician, scientist, teacher, talented financier; from the inception of the Bank of Lithuania and issue of the national currency, the litas, into circulation, he also led the Bank of Lithuania and the country’s entire monetary policy for seven years (1922–1929).
The Bank of Lithuania has also established the Vladas Jurgutis Scholarship. It is awarded every year to the two best-performing full-time students of banking and finance at Lithuanian universities.
