Diaspora
PROCEED AND PROGRESS, PERCHANCE TO PROSPER By Orsolya Albert
How the Lithuanian diaspora has been making steady inroads In 2018, Lithuanians were the sixth most likely nationality to both immigrate to Denmark and to leave – quite an achievement for a country with a population of only 2.8 million. In fact, worldwide, it is estimated that the Lithuanian diaspora group can claim over a million people, with large accumulations in the likes of the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, Russia and Canada.
STEADILY RISING NUMBERS Denmark is not that far behind. As of 2019, 14,768 Lithuanians were living here, and the number is steadily rising. It is one of the country’s fastgrowing diaspora communities.
DIFFERENT PATHS, DIFFERENT STORIES Many arrive in Denmark to study or to pursue careers paths, and some go on to establish their own businesses and achieve excellence in academia. We have caught up with six successful Lithuanians currently living in Denmark, each with their only very different story. Our contributors walk different career paths to pursue their dreams in various industries.
DR DARIUS MARDOSAS Dr Darius Mardosas is the head of clinic, Mental Health Centre Glostrup, Copenhagen University Hospital. Psychiatric Centre Glostrup is a large university psychiatric hospital in the western part of Denmark's capital Copenhagen. Dr Mardosas’ department delivers psychiatric care, both inpatient and outpatient, to approximately 5,000 contacts per year. The centre consists of a psychiatric emergency department and 170 inpatient beds divided between 62 intensive units and 108 open wards. The department also oversees 16 different outpatient clinics that take care of patients according to their diagnosis such as affective disorder, psychotic disorder, oligophrenia, geriatrics, ADHD or autism etc. The clinic also has a large research department (neuropsychiatry, psychopathology) with three professors. INGA MERKYTE Vilnius-born Inga Merkyte, the chair and co-founder of the Lithuanian Society in Denmark, is an acclaimed archaeologist - a calling she set out to answer when she found a coin hoard at the age of nine. She studied history at Vilnius University and, after moving to Denmark in 1992, continued her studies in computer science and archaeology at Copenhagen University. She holds a PhD in archaeology from Aarhus University. Her research has taken her far and wide: Europe, Russia, Brazil, Kyrgyzstan and since 2002 primarily in west Africa (mainly Bénin and Ghana), where she has co-founded three new museums. Inga is the editor of the Scandinavian annual Acta Archaeologica, author of two monographs and numerous articles. A passionate forest hiker and table tennis player, she has two children and is widowed.
10 LITHUANIA SUPPLEMENT 2021
JOKŪBAS RAGAUSKAS Jokūbas Ragauskas is a cultural curator based in Copenhagen. Some years ago, he founded an art collective named Noisy Beehive, which aims to collaborate with local cultural centres, venues and independent record labels, providing a performing platform for local musicians and artists. Jokūbas collaborates with the Lithuanian Embassy in Denmark, and he is currently running a DanishLithuanian cultural exchange program between a number of cultural houses in Lithuania and music venues in Denmark, facilitating a greater movement of artists between the Nordic and Baltic regions. Educated as an urban anthropologist, Jokūbas’ projects tend to put an emphasis on community building and the use of temporal spaces in urban environments.