Global True Lithuania Encyclopedia of Lithuanian heritage worldwide

Tasmania

Tasmania has the least Lithuanian heritage sites among the Australian states.

However, Tasmania had Lithuanian activities and communities: more than 100 Lithuanians settled in Tasmania after they were forced to flee Lithuania by the advancing Soviet armies in 1944 and were eventually accepted by Australia. There was Lithuanian Studies Society at the University of Tasmania, as well as Lithuanian sport clubs.

Among these Lithuanian displaced people was Olegas Truchanas, a famous environmentalist and photographer. Olegas Bluff beyond Strathgordon is named after him. Born in 1923 in Šiauliai, he fled Lithuania in 1944 and emigrated to Australia in 1948. There, he became captivated by the Tasmanian nature, traveling around the island and taking thousands of photographs. He was instrumental in a campaign against the damming of the Tasmanian rivers.

A local Lithuanian sculptor, Linas Vaiciulevičius, built a metal Iron Wolf sculpture based on the myth of the founding of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. In this myth, Grand Duke Gediminas dreamt of a howling iron wolf on his hunting trip. His "wizard" (krivis) Lizdeika interpreted the dream to mean that a city would be founded at the location, a city that would become famous. Gediminas thus established Vilnius. In the sculpture, Gediminas is dreaming, with the Iron Wolf standing above him and the castle of Vilnius under him. Iron Wolf itself had become a symbol of Vilnius.

Iron Wolf of Tasmania

The sculpture is now located in a private area near Eaglehawk Neck.