Light through the glass ceiling. Magdalena Aviėtėnaitė (1892–1984) – creator of the image of the interwar state

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1924. The first international conference of telegraph agencies is held in the Swiss capital of Bern, attended by male delegates from 22 countries and one woman – Magdalena Aviėtė (1892–1984), head of the Lithuanian telegram agency ELTA. One of the few women in interwar Lithuania who achieved such career heights in fields that were almost exclusively considered the competence of men at the time.

Magdalena Aviėtė is a Lithuanian-American, born in Lithuania, raised in the United States, and educated in Switzerland. Arriving in Independent Lithuania in 1920, she was immediately employed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Starting as a qualified translator, she rose to the position of department director and became the highest-ranking woman in the interwar Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

While running for high positions in the civil service, like many women of her generation, M. Aviėtenaitė faced career restrictions due to cultural attitudes and socially ingrained behavioral patterns. Unfortunately, despite her professional competence and merits, she failed to break through the glass ceiling of her time – the diplomatic elite of that time did not dare to appoint a woman as a resident diplomat in any of Lithuania’s missions abroad.

In 2023, the exhibition “Light Through the Glass Ceiling: Magdalena Aviėtenaitė (1892–1984) – Creator of the Interwar State Image” opened at the M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum in Kaunas. The materials of this exhibition and the latest historical research have been combined into a long-awaited publication, in which the legacy of diplomat Magdalena Aviėtenaitė comes to life as a historical story about a woman who created Lithuanian culture and diplomacy.

Published by: National M. K. Čiurlionis Art Museum

Compiled by: Kristina Stankaitė, Violeta Karmalavičienė

Authors of the texts: Kristina Stankaitė, Laimutė Baltakojė, Violeta Karmalavičienė, Dr. Vytautas Žalys, Dr. Vilma Akmenytė-Ruzgienė

Design and layout: Julija Tolvaišytė-Leonavičienė

Text editor: Renata Endzelytė

Text translator: Aušra Simanavičiūtė

Illustration translator: Palmyra Sakalauskienė

Photographers: Justė Mocevičiūtė, Audrius Kapčius, Rimantė Pranciška Ropytė

Digitalizers: Džiugas Palukaitis, Edgaras Austinskas

Year: 2025

Pages: 312

Format: 21 x 27 cm, softcover

Printed by: AB Kopa

ISBN: 9789955471998

Language: Lithuanian, English


25.00€