100th Anniversary of Prof. Kęstutis Sasnauskas

3 November 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of Prof. Kęstutis Sasnauskas, a scientist in the field of silicate technology, Dean of the Faculty of Chemical Technology of former Kaunas Polytechnic Institute, since 1990 – Kaunas University of Technology and Head of the Department of Silicate Technology. On the occasion of this anniversary, the Head of KTU Museum Dr. Audronė Veilentienė prepared a 4-part virtual exhibition “A Gifted Scientist and Sensitive Leader. 100th Anniversary of Prof. Kęstutis Sasnauskas”. The exhibition uses photographs from Sasnauskai family archive and KTU Photo Archive and documents from KTU Archive.

Origins and childhood

Kęstutis Sasnauskas was born on 3 November 1923 in a civil servant family in Telšiai. His father Jonas Sasnauskas came from the Sasnauskas family of Lithuanian nobility. In 1915, he graduated from Vilnius Secondary School of Chemical Engineering, and later from the Vladimir Officers’ School in St. Petersburg, after which he served in the Lithuanian regiment of the Russian Imperial Guard. In 1917, after the Bolshevik takeover, the regiment retreated to the south. J. Sasnauskas was admitted to Kiev Polytechnic Institute where he completed 2 years of studies. On 13 May 1921, he married a Ukrainian woman, Marija Karpenko. In 1922, Sasnauskai family returned to Lithuania, settling in Telšiai, the birthplace of Jonas Sasnauskas. On 3 November 1923, twins Algirdas and Kęstutis were born. Jonas Sasnauskas worked as a technical inspector in Telšiai County. In 1928, J. Sasnauskas was appointed as a technical inspector of Kaunas County; therefore, Sasnauskai family moved to Kaunas. Together with Ernestas Kirša and Stefanija Skučienė, wife of the Minister of the Interior Kazimieras Skučas, J. Sasnauskas acquired the joint-stock company “Kalkės” and became one of the owners of this company. The company owned a stone quarry in Menčiai Village (Akmenė Volost) and a lime kiln in Bauskas Village (Papilė Volost).

From Gymnasium Pupil to Student

In Kaunas, Kęstutis Sasnauskas and his brother Algirdas studied at the private Marija Pečkauskaitė Gymnasium, which was located in the Chamber of the Lithuanian Catholic Federation “Ateitis”. Sasnauskai lived on Trakų Street, where they rented an apartment. Kęstutis was a sea scout, he sailed on a yacht and played basketball. In 1939, the Sasnauskai family divorced and father Jonas Sasnauskas started another family. Kęstutis stayed to live with his mother and his brother Algirdas moved out with his father. They settled in a timber-frame house built by his father on Jankaus Street. In January 1940, before the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania, Marija Sasnauskienė decided to leave Lithuania with her son Kęstutis. She had experienced the horrors of the occupation in Ukraine and, taking advantage of her German blood (her mother was German), she and Kęstutis left for Germany. On 3 April 1941, Marija Sasnauskienė died from pneumonia in Allenstein (Germany, now – Olsztyn, Poland). 17-year-old Kęstutis was left alone in a foreign country. After burying his mother, Kęstutis went to Thuringia and worked as a locksmith in a confectionery factory in Posneck.

When the war between Germany and the Soviet Union broke out, Kęstutis took the first train from Germany to Lithuania to visit his father in Vilnius, where his father was working at the time. In 1942, K. Sasnauskas graduated from the 1^st Gymnasium for Boys of Vytautas the Great in Vilnius and was admitted to the Chemistry Department of the Faculty of Technology of Vytautas Magnus University. On 17 March 1943, the Nazis occupied the university building and announced the closure of the university. Twin brother of Kęstutis, Algirdas, was taken to Germany to work, where he soon died of illness. Kęstutis Sasnauskas actively participated in the anti-Nazi resistance: he organised the printing of the underground newspaper of the Lithuanian Popular Peasants’ Union “Independent Lithuania” and provided ink and paper for the underground printing house. He transported the printing materials in a wagon along Kęstučio Street, was armed with a pistol and had no intention of surrendering to the Nazis alive. Cousins of Sasnauskai Stanislava Grachauskytė and Elena Gineitienė, together with her husband, lawyer Alfonsas Gineitis, were also involved in the printing and distribution of the underground newspaper. The underground newspaper was also distributed by Prof. Kazimieras Baršauskas.

In the autumn of 1944, K. Sasnauskas returned to continue his studies at the Faculty of Technology of Kaunas State Vytautas Magnus University. On 1 June 1945, he started working as a laboratory assistant at the Department of Inorganic Technology of the Faculty of Technology, and from 1947, he worked as a senior laboratory assistant at the same department. In 1948, after defending his diploma project “Cement Factory in Pamerkys”, he graduated and obtained the qualification of a technological engineer.

From Assistant to Professor and Dean of the Faculty

After graduating from the university, K. Sasnauskas worked as a teacher at the Faculty of Chemical Technology, first at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, then at the Department of Chemical Processes and Apparatus, and when it was liquidated in 1956, he transferred to the Department of Silicate Technology. In 1955, he defended his doctoral dissertation in chemistry “Research of Cementitious Film and Hydrothermal Process in the Production of Silicate Products with Chalk Marl”. He was awarded the title of associate professor in 1956. From 1962 to 1989, K. Sasnauskas was the Head of the Department of Silicate Technology, and from 1965 to 1991, he was the Dean of the Faculty of Chemical Technology. In 1972, he defended his doctoral thesis (now – habilitated doctorate) “Research of the Interaction Processes of Phases and Intensification of the Production of Autoclaved Silicate Products”. He wrote his thesis working as the dean of the faculty, taking care of the construction of the extension of the building and the laboratory equipment. In 1974, he became a professor.

The scientist created the school of the science of solidification processes of autoclaved siliceous articles, synthesis of individual KHS, their properties and use. His research areas were the use of calcium hydrosilicate synthesis and the improvement of autoclaved silicate product technology. Prof. Sasnauskas published more than 200 scientific articles, wrote the book “Production of Bricks, Roof Tiles and Drains” (with co-authors, 1961) and the textbook “Processes and Apparatuses of Chemical Technology” (with co-authors, 1966). In 1968-1998, 12 doctoral students under his supervision prepared and defended their dissertations. Works of Prof. K. Sasnauskas are significant from a theoretical as well as practical point of view: in 1993, using the technology proposed by the scientist, the production of calcium hydrosilicate thermal insulation panels was started in the company “Silbitas” in Kaunas.

For many years the professor was the chairman of the joint scientific dissertation council of KPI Faculty of Chemical Technology and Faculty of Light Industry, later, he was the chairman of the specialised dissertation council, a member of the organising committee of the international conferences on construction materials (IBAUSIL) in Weimar. Until 1991, he was vice-chairman of the Baltic Regional Specialized Dissertation Commission in Riga, the vice-chairman of the High Attestation Commission in Moscow, the expert member of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences (1991-1996), the member of the Editorial Board of the journal “Chemistry”. He also made 7 inventions and received 3 patents of the republic of Lithuania (1993-1998). In 1984, he was awarded the State Prize of the Lithuanian SSR (with others). He was also a laureate of the World Inventors Olympiad “Genius-98” (Budapest). KTU Senate, appreciating the merits of Prof. K. Sasnauskas to the University, awarded him the honorary title of KTU Professor Emeritus in 2003.

Husband, Father, Grandfather

On 18 January 1949, Kęstutis Sasnauskas married Birutė Tamulytė and created a harmonious family. Sasnauskai raised a daughter Laimutė (born 1950) and a son Vytautas (born 1955) and took care of their grandchildren. They taught their children and grandchildren a love of Lithuania, its history, Lithuanian language, songs, nature, encouraged interest in science, and fostered a sense of duty and responsibility. He loved travelling around Lithuania, mushroom gathering, technology and was interested in technical subjects. He was very honest, hard-working, dedicated, and sensitive to his colleagues.