On February 16, 1922, the University of Lithuania, which served as the foundation for modern higher education institutions, was solemnly opened in Kaunas. The statute, adopted on March 24 of the same year, legitimized the autonomy of the university.
On June 7, 1930, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the death of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas the Great, the University of Lithuania was granted the name of Vytautas Magnus University. On the same day, a new university statute was adopted.
After surviving the Nazi German and the Soviet occupations, preserving the memory of own academic tradition in the diaspora, VMU was re-established on April 28, 1989 and became a symbol of the intellectual and cultural life of independent Lithuania.
Both in Lithuania and in the world VDU is recognized for its humanistic ideas, internationality, interdisciplinarity and openness to innovation.
