Edmundas Antanas Rimša

Garbės daktaras / Honorary Doctor (Suteiktas vardas 2012-06-27)

Assoc. Prof. Edmundas Antanas Rimša is a prominent European scientist. He significantly contributed to the development of VMU symbolism, published Kauno istorijos metraštis (Kaunas History Chronicle) and shared exclusive experience with university students.

Rimša studied history at Vilnius University (VU). After the studies, he lectured in VU Department of General History. In 1993, he defended his doctoral dissertation in the humanities “The coats of arms in the history of Lithuanian private cities.” The same year, he was appointed as the head of VU Department of History of Grand Lithuanian Duchy, and taught at VMU from 1995 and 1998. Assoc. Prof. Rimša still keeps close contact with VMU History Department, joining doctoral dissertation defence boards, BA and MA thesis commissions, etc.  Rimša took the position of the head of Lithuanian History Institute from 1999 to 2000. Assoc. Prof. Rimša is a specialist of heraldry and genealogy. He significantly contributed to the establishment of auxiliary sciences of history in Lithuania.

Rimša published the following books: Kauno miesto herbas XV–XX a. (Vilnius, 1994), Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės miestų antspaudai (Vilnius, 1999, translation into Polish language Pieczęcia miast Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego, Warsaw, 2007); compiled and wrote the following books in cooperation with other authors: Lietuvos miestų istorijos šaltiniai (1–2 books), Lietuvos heraldika I, Heraldika: Iš praeities į dabartį (Vilnius, 2004, translation into English language Heraldry: Past to Present, Vilnius, 2005). Assoc. Prof. Rimša compiled 4 collections of articles, wrote about 11 scientific articles and reviews in various publications and about 200 popular science articles.

Rimša is the Editorial Board member of the publication Lietuvos istorijos metraštis (Lithuanian History Chronicle), Lithuanian National Museum Chronicle Numizmatika (Numismatics) and scientific publication Studia Żródłoznawcze. He is also the member of the Polish Heraldry Association and honorary citizen of Rokiškis.

Rimša was awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas in 1998 and the Order of Merits of Lithuania (2009). He was awarded with National Scientific Award for the book Lietuvos Didžiosios kunigaikštystės miestų antspaudai (Vilnius, 1999) in 2001. Rimša is also the winner of several Lithuanian and foreign academic awards. His works are being translated into Polish and English.