Emmanuel Levinas Centre

FAMOUS, BUT UNKNOWN

Emmanuel Levinas, one of the most prominent philosophers of the 20th century, is not sufficiently known in Lithuania. Born and raised in Kaunas, he did not receive proper recognition in his home town and was left on the margins of Jewish heritage for a long time. The new Emmanuel Levinas Centre LSMU inaugurated on 6 December 2021, seeks to honour and present this unique personality, to help the Lithuanian and international community discover this philosopher, and to properly spread his philosophical legacy of existentialism and ethics, with a special focus on the ethics of concern. The Centre, located in a house designed by Vytautas Landsbergis Žemkalnis, is a beautiful example of synergy: architecture and philosophy, telling different stories, becoming a single narrative. The carefully restored and revived historic spaces are open to the public by prior arrangement.

EXHIBITIONS AND CONFERENCES

• The Centre exhibits a collection of works by famous Lithuanian artists. The Centre houses the French-language library of Emmanuel Levinas’s books, and books can be read on site.
• The Centre offers a screening of a film in which his grandson, physicist David Hansel, and his wife, the philosopher Joelle Hansel, share their memories of E. Levinas and Lithuania. Length: 57 min
• Lovers of literature who are tired of the digital space gather at the Centre’s Book Club “TEA AT LEVINAS’S”. Meetings are held once a month (season: September-June).
• The Centre organises public events / lectures for the community on a variety of topics. It is possible to rent space for conferences or lectures for companies and organisations.