Farmacininkas Adomas Mačius (1882–1974), jo rankraščiai ir piešiniai
Pharmacist Adomas Mačius (1882–1974): His Manuscripts and Drawings

Summary/Abstract: The article analyses the biography, manuscripts, and drawings of Adomas Mačius (1882–1974), a pharmacist, researcher of pharmacy history, collector, caricaturist, public figure, and creator of the concept for the “Museum of Ancient Lithuanian Pharmacy.” Adomas Mačius was born on May 19, 1882, in Auksodžiai village, Laižuva parish, Mažeikiai County. While still a student at a gymnasium in Riga, he faced persecution by the Tsarist authorities for promoting Lithuanian culture. Later, he worked in pharmacies in various cities of Tsarist Russia, initially as an apprentice and, after passing special exams at Kharkiv University in 1907, as a pharmacist’s assistant. He actively participated in the Lithuanian national movement and contributed as an illustrator for Lithuanian publications. After Lithuania declared independence in 1918, Mačius returned to his homeland and worked in pharmacies in Laižuva, Salakas, and Kaunas. He engaged in public activities, participated in the development of independent Lithuania, and became a prominent researcher, chronicler of pharmacy history, and collector. In 1940, the Soviet occupation authorities nationalised the pharmacy in Kaunas (at Prezidento Street 2, now Vilniaus Street), co-owned by Juozas Matulaitis and A. Mačius. At the end of World War II, Mačius fled to Germany and later emigrated to the United States, where he passed away on October 10, 1974. He was buried at St. Casimir Lithuanian Cemetery in Chicago. While living in exile in the United States, Mačius created two manuscript volumes titled “Chronicle of Lithuanian Pharmacists and Lithuanian Pharmacy”. These works document not only the interwar period but also the history of Soviet and post-war Lithuanian pharmacy. These manuscripts are a unique historical source, providing insights into the development of Lithuanian pharmacy and the lives of pharmacists. They include detailed biographies of Lithuanian pharmacists, photographs, overviews of pharmaceutical organisations, lists of exiled pharmacists, and records of Jewish pharmacists murdered by the Nazis. The manuscripts are enriched by Mačius’s drawings, which visually complement the historical narratives. In 2023, the Museum of the History of Lithuanian Medicine and Pharmacy organised an exhibition of his drawings titled “The 20th Century Pharmacy History Through the Eyes of a Pharmacist, Public Figure, and Caricaturist Adomas Mačius”. The article also discusses Mačius’s contributions to the history of Lithuanian press, focusing on his caricatures and illustrations published in “Juokų Kalendoriai” (“Calendars of Jokes”) and other publications. His collaboration with the publisher Liudvikas Jakavičius (1871–1941) is highlighted. For a long time, Mačius’s works were little known due to the destruction of archives during the Soviet era and the prohibition of commemorating emigrated individuals. However, his surviving manuscripts, preserved at the Museum of the History of Lithuanian Medicine and Pharmacy, have become significant sources that have enriched the study of Lithuanian pharmacy history in recent decades.

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