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The father of Lithuanian textile artists: academic Juozas Indriūnas – 130

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On January 26, we commemorate the 130th anniversary of the birth of Juozas Indriūnas (1896–1989), a pioneer in textile technology. After beginning his studies at the University of Lithuania in 1922, J. Indriūnas was hired as a laboratory assistant in the Department of Material Resistance and devoted his entire life to the development of textile science in Lithuania and the training of textile engineers. He devoted 67 years to this cause, with his last position being that of consulting professor at the Kaunas Polytechnic Institute. J. Indriūnas’ contribution to the training of specialists for the textile industry is invaluable, which is why he is rightly called the father of Lithuanian textile engineers. J. Indriūnas is also a pioneer in the creation of Lithuanian technical literature on textiles and its terminology. To mark the anniversary of this distinguished scientist, Dr. Audronė Veilentienė, director of the KTU Museum, has organized a virtual exhibition where visitors can view unique documents from J. Indriūnas’ personal file and see fragments of his life and work captured in photographs held by the KTU Museum.

The path to education

Juozas Indriūnas was born on January 26, 1896, in Bajoriškės (Rokiškis district). From 1908 to 1912, he attended Panemunėlis Primary School. In 1914, he graduated from the two-year school in Kupiškis (incomplete gymnasium). From 1914 to 1915, he worked as a government inspector at the Treugolnaja rubber factory in St. Petersburg and attended private courses to obtain his high school diploma. From 1915 to 1916, he taught at Pineva Elementary School. In 1916, he was arrested by the German occupation authorities for publishing illegal Lithuanian press and distributing leaflets, and was imprisoned in a prisoner-of-war camp in Gruntal, Germany, until 1918. From 1918 to 1920, he worked as a primary school teacher in Žardeliškės. In 1920, he was an auditor at the Higher Courses in Kaunas. In 1921, he passed his final exams as an external student and in 1922 was accepted as a student at the Faculty of Technology at the University of Lithuania. In 1929, he obtained a degree in engineering technology. In 1930–1931, he specialized at the technical universities of Stuttgart and Dresden. While still a student, he began working at the university. In 1922, he was appointed laboratory assistant at the Department of Construction Mechanics, where he actively assisted Prof. K. Vasiliauskas in setting up a materials resistance laboratory. In 1929, he was transferred to the position of assistant, and in 1930, to the position of senior assistant. In 1930, on the initiative of J. Indriūnas, a textile materials research laboratory was established at the materials resistance laboratory. In 1936, he defended his dissertation “Wool fibers bend and tire.” He was awarded a doctorate in engineering, and in 1937, he was awarded the title of associate professor. In 1937, on his initiative, a fiber technology laboratory was set up in the premises of the University’s Institute of Physics and Chemistry. In 1941, the Department of Textile Technology was established at the University, and Juozas Indriūnas was appointed professor and head of the department.

J. Indriūnas’ path to science is evidenced by personal documents that have found their way into the museum: a certificate of attendance as an auditor of advanced courses, which was quite rare in Lithuania in 1920–1921, the first doctoral dissertation in technical sciences defended at Vytautas Magnus University with the beautiful Lithuanian title “Vilnų plaukeliai lankstomi pavargsta” (The Waves of Vilnius Grow Weary), a copy of his diploma, and more. Among them is a special photograph-postcard taken in the spring of 1918 at the Gruntal prisoner-of-war camp in Germany. In the photograph, J. Indriūnas is pictured sitting on a bench wearing prisoner’s clothes and clogs, with the prisoner number “56” placed next to the bench, holding a copy of the newspaper Lietuvos aidas in his hand. It has been determined that this is the March 26, 1918 issue of Lietuvos aidas, which contains the article “Lithuania – an Independent State.”The article reports that on March 23, a delegation authorized by the Lithuanian Council presented the German Chancellor with a notification of the Act of Independence proclaimed by the Lithuanian Council, requesting recognition of the Lithuanian state. On the other side of the photograph is a postcard in which J. Indriūnas writes to his parents and brothers on April 20, 1918, about two parcels he has received and asks them to send more parcels and money, which he desperately needs. The postcard bears witness to one of the most difficult trials of J. Indriūnas’ life – his arrest and imprisonment in a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War I. He writes about this in his memoirs, published in 1996. In the autumn of 1915, J. Indriūnas established a Lithuanian primary school in the village of Piniava near Panevėžys, along with courses for adults and a choir, and organized performances. While still a student, J. Indriūnas joined the secret socialist organization Aušrininkai (named after the magazine Aušrinė), and as a teacher he established a secret group of the Progressive Youth Union of Aukštaitija, published the newspaper Liuosas kelias, and published and distributed leaflets. For one proclamation urging people to hide from being drafted into the occupiers’ labor battalions, J. Indriūnas was arrested in December 1916, imprisoned, and later sent to the Gruntal prisoner camp. He escaped with a friend, but after three days he was returned to the same camp. Living in the prison camp, J. Indriūnas founded a primary school for his fellow Lithuanians who were illiterate or semi-literate. The Lithuanian prisoners received some food and books from the Lausanne Lithuanian Committee, established in Switzerland to help victims of the war. J. Indriūnas did not return to Lithuania until the autumn of 1918.

Pedagogical and scientific activity during the years of occupation

In 1941–1962 J. Indriūnas was Head of the Department of Textile Technology at Kaunas University (from 1951-01-01 – Kaunas Polytechnic Institute), and in 1962–1975 – Head of the Department of Fibrous Materials; in 1948–1953 he was also Director of the Institute of Physics and Technology. In 1944–1947 he was Dean of the Faculty of Technology. In 1946 he became a Corresponding Member of the Lithuanian SSR Academy of Sciences, and from 1968 – a Full Member. After the war J. Indriūnas experienced persecution due to Soviet ideological coercion. In 1947, the textbook “Fibrous Materials” written by J. Indriūnas was denounced in the press of occupied Lithuania as a “slanderous book,” and he was forced to perform a humiliating “public repentance” before the university council. The entire printed edition of his other textbook, “Fundamentals of Textile Technology,” published in 1948, was destroyed because the book did not sufficiently emphasize the “superiority of Soviet science and technology.” In 1962 Prof. J. Indriūnas joined the Communist Party because he “could not reconcile himself to the fact that when addressing everyday departmental issues with the institute’s leadership or higher authorities, decisions were often determined by party affiliation.” It was not an easy decision. His students stated that Prof. J. Indriūnas remained an exceptionally humane and democratic personality. Having immersed himself in research on the durability of fiber and fabric pile, Prof. J. Indriūnas remained devoted to this field throughout his life. The result – a scientific monograph and 74 scientific articles. His most important works: “Mechanical Testing of Materials” (1930), “Fibrous Materials” (1947), “Fundamentals of Textile Technology” (1948), “Weaving” (1954), “Flax Spinning” (1959), “Wool Spinning” (1961), “New Wool Spinning Technology” (1968), “Technology and Equipment for Spinning Wool and Chemical Fibers” (1972). He is also the author of 11 inventions. He developed methods and devices for testing the fatigue and hairiness of fibrous materials. Under his supervision, 28 young scientists defended doctoral dissertations. Thus, two scientific schools were established at KPI – the study of fibrous material fatigue and the study of pile products. J. Indriūnas is also a pioneer of Lithuanian technical textile literature and the creation of its terminology. For his merits in the development of science, in 1965 he was awarded the title of Honored Scientist of the Lithuanian SSR; in 1966, for research on the mechanical and эксплуатационные properties of textile materials, he (together with others) was awarded the State Republican Prize. He died on April 15, 1989, and was buried in Petrašiūnai Cemetery in Kaunas.

Family and leisure

In 1926, while a student at the Faculty of Technology of the Lithuanian University, Juozas Indriūnas designed a two-storey, two-apartment house on J. Kraševskis Street. Only one floor was built, in which the J. Indriūnas family settled in the autumn of 1927. In 1930 J. Indriūnas sold the house and moved to Linksmadvaris, Universiteto St. 11. Prof. J. Indriūnas and his wife Anatolija had three children – sons Algimantas and Rimgaudas and daughter Audronė. He was not broken by the early deaths of his wife and daughter. J. Indriūnas loved Lithuanian nature, cultivated his garden in Aleksotas, and more than once invited department colleagues to visit one or another corner of Lithuania in his car. He constantly followed current events, and he could often be met at the theatre or in a concert hall. He exercised regularly; even at an advanced age, while spending summers in Palanga, he would jog lightly along the beach in the mornings. He was always open with colleagues and students, sociable and fond of moderate humor. He was a fierce opponent of smoking and suggested ways to combat this harmful habit.