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ABOUT

Hello/Labas! I'm Andrew Kapochunas, and this site is the successor to the one I started in 2008: LithuanianMaps.com, which is now a static site, last updated March 31, 2021. My bona-fides as a Lithuanian-American:

  • September, 1947: Andrius Kapočiūnas was born in the Lithuanian-Estonian Displaced Persons camp in Kempten - Allgäu, Germany

  • April, 1949: arrived in New York City, along with my parents and two sisters, to live in an apartment sponsored by cousins in Blissville, Long Island City

  • September, 1954: told my teacher at P.S. 72 in Maspeth, Queens, that my first name was Andrew

  • April, 1955: Andrew Kapociunas became a naturalized citizen of the United states

  • November, 1985: legally changed my last name to Kapochunas

  • Summer, 1988: bought my first antique map of the historic Lithuanian area

  • Fall, 1988: my daughter begins collecting postage stamps, rekindling my interest in the postage stamps of the Baltic states and Memel

  • 1990: I join the Lithuanian Philatelic Society of New York, begin writing for their Bulletin, and eventually become the bulletin's co-editor

  • 1990: I join the Lithuania Philatelic Society, Chicago, and eventually write for their Journal on both postage stamps and Lithuanian maps

  • 1991: I become a member/supporter of LitvakSIG, the Jewish-Gen group for those interested in exploring their ancestors' roots in Lithuania. My LithuanianMaps.com website is soon hotlinked on their site, along with my offer to help members find their ancestral shtetls, and provide them with detail map images of that shtetl on antique maps of Lithuania

  • 1996: I make my first trip to Lithuania, and meet my first cousins and their families. I returned in 1998, in 2001 with my family, in 2003 with my oldest sister, in 2005 with my oldest sister, in 2008, in 2011, in 2013, and in 2019

  • 2008: I build my first website: LithuanianMaps.com

  • 2013: I give my first presentation on maps at Seton Hall University, New Jersey: "The influence of maps on society and art"

  • 2014: I join the New York Map Society, am invited to join its board as Secretary, and volunteer to create a new website for it, becoming its Webmaster, too

  • 2014: my and my parents' story are part of the exhibition "No Home to Go To" hosted by the Balzekas Museum in Chicago. I attend the traveling show at the Lithuanian Embassy in Washington, DC

  • February 2016: I give a talk at the main branch of the New York Public Library: "How Maps and Map Collecting Helped an Immigrant Find His Place in the World"

  • 2017: part of my collection of Lithuanian maps is displayed at the Consulate General of Lithuania in New York City.: "300+ Years of Lithuania on Maps - 1552 - 1862." I give a presentation there on opening night: "How Maps and Map Collecting Helped Me Find My Place in the World."

  • March, 2019: I decide to sponsor a yearly cash award of 500 Euros, to be given to a resident of Lithuania, for the best
    environmental-themed map depicting a problem in Lithuania, a map whose dissemination I hope will raise awareness
    and a drive for remediation.

  • November, 2019: I go to Vilnius, Lithuania, to present the first Environmental Map Award to Danas Augutis of the Lithuanian Nature Fund (Lietuvos gamtos fondas), analyzing trees in Kaunas Oak Forest, and proposing treatment and maintenance to keep the trees in good shape.

  • December, 2020: given the pandemic, I virtually present to the winner of the 2020 Environmental Map Award: Marijus Pileckas, lecturer at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, focusing on wetlands, the environment, and water resources
    management. His maps were created as part of a European Union-funded project: "Reduction of the negative impact of alien invasive plant species on ecosystems and human well-being in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border region."

  • January, 2021: I launch LithuanianJournal.org

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