Rūta Society

It organized various events, including lectures, literary evenings, and musical performances, but it is most noted for its contribution to the development of the Lithuanian theater.

[1] The official permission to establish Rūta was received on 25 September 1908 and the founding meeting took place on 11 January 1909.

[2] At that time the society registered 66 members and elected a 12-member board, which included Jonas Masiulis [lt] (chairman), Andrius Domaševičius (vice-chairman), Mykolas Sleževičius (secretary), Donatas Malinauskas (treasurer), Jonas Basanavičius, and Jurgis Šlapelis [lt].

[5] The society had a choir (about 50 members) which performed works by Lithuanian composers (Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Juozas Naujalis, Mikas Petrauskas, Česlovas Sasnauskas, Stasys Šimkus)[5] as well as foreign composers (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Robert Schumann, Jules Massenet).

It has survived and is preserved at the M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum[9] and commemorated by a fresco inside the former theater of Rūta.

[10] The group, which was active even before Rūta was officially organized, staged several plays, most notably historical dramas Mindaugis, Lietuvos karalius by Juliusz Słowacki (Mindaugas, King of Lithuania; premiered on 27 April 1908) and Živilė, duktė Karijoto by Vincas Nagornoskis (Živilė, Daughter of Karijotas; premiered on 4 January 1909).