How is Leonidas Donskis remembered in Lithuania?

ENI was asked to talk about how Leonidas Donskis is remembered in Lithuania. Being one of a few non-scholars in this event, I will not try to go deeper into ideas of prof. Donskis – I believe this will be the topic of prof. Miloiu’s presentation. Instead, I will try to paint the portrait of prof. Donskis, the way he is remembered in the Lithuanian society, and also briefly summarize the initiatives which were or will be implemented in order to pay tribute to prof. Donskis and preserve his legacy. For those of you who are not familiar with Leonidas Donskis and his work, I would like to start with a brief introduction to his life. Mr. Donskis was born in 1962, in the Lithuanian port city Klaipėda. He graduated from the present-day Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, majoring in philology and theatre, and continued his studies in Vilnius University, where he received his first doctorate in philosophy. He earned his second doctorate in social and moral philosophy from the University of Helsinki, Finland, and later was awarded with an honorary doctorate in the Bradford University in Great Britain and, of course, Valahia University of Târgovişte. Mr. Donskis was a Professor at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania, where he served as the Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy, but he also taught students all over the world: Finland, Estonia, USA, Great Britain, Sweden, Hungary, etc. Donskis has been published widely in international refereed journals, and is the author or editor of more than 50 books, half of which are available in English. His works have been translated into 18 languages, including Romanian. Donskis also served as a member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2015.