Kudirkos Naumiestis

Kudirkos Naumiestis
—  City  —
Coat of arms
Kudirkos Naumiestis Location of Kudirkos Naumiestis
Coordinates: 54°46′0″N 22°52′0″E / 54.766667°N 22.866667°E / 54.766667; 22.866667Coordinates: 54°46′0″N 22°52′0″E / 54.766667°N 22.866667°E / 54.766667; 22.866667
Country	Lithuania
Ethnographic region	Suvalkija
County	Marijampolė County
Municipality	Šakiai district municipality
Eldership	Kudirkos Naumiestis eldership
Capital of	Kudirkos Naumiestis eldership
First mentioned	1561
Granted city rights	1643
Population (2010)
– Total	1,911
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
– Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)

Kudirkos Naumiestis ( pronunciation (help·info)) is in the Šakiai district municipality, Lithuania. It is located 25 km (16 mi) south-west of Šakiai.

The settlement was first mentioned in 1561 as a village called Duoliebaičiai. In 1639 the town was renamed Vladislavovas (Polish: Władysławów) by Cecilia Renata of Austria after her husband Władysław IV Vasa. He granted the town Magdeburg rights in 1643. However, the name did not achieve popular usage, and the settlement became known as "a town" or "a new town" instead. The German name Neustadt-Schirwindt is derived from the river Širvinta (German: Schirwindt). In 1900 the town began being referred to as Naumiestis (New Town). In 1934 the town was renamed Kudirkos Naumiestis in honor of the Lithuanian patriot, Vincas Kudirka, who lived there from 1895 to 1899. A well-organized Jewish community also lived in there and produced a number of prominent rabbis and Jewish scholars. Its name in Yiddish was ניישטאט שאקי (Nayshtot Shaki). Before World War II the town had about 3,000 Jewish residents. Journalist and writer Herman Bernstein was born here in 1876 and Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver was born here in 1893.

Pranas Sederevičius

Sederevičius'Garden in 2011

Kudirkos Naumiestis was the home of Pranas Sederevičius (1905-1979), who created sculptures from concrete in his back garden. He started making his concrete artworks in 1951.

External links

• Jewish Encyclopedia article
• Old Jewish cemetery