Big Brother Lenin once stood near the Faculty of Law in Vilnius. The sculpture showed Vladimir Lenin together with Vincas Kapsukas. I call him Big Brother Lenin because he stands slightly larger, like a guide next to his loyal friend. This monument was not in the main square, but on a university campus, which makes its story even more interesting.

The monument stood in the Saulėtekis district of Vilnius, close to the Faculty of Law. The university was renamed Kapsukas University in 1955. As a result of the 400-year existence in 1979, the statue of Kapsukas with Lenin was placed. It was made by the Lithuanian sculptor Konstantinas Bogdanas (1926-2011). The monument was named ‘Lenin and Kapsukas in Poronin.’

A Soviet Duo at the University

The work showed Lenin and Kapsukas standing side by side. Lenin’s figure is slightly taller and stronger. But in real life Lenin was much smaller than his Lithuanian comrade. Kapsukas stood close to him, almost like a student beside a teacher. The size difference was small but clear. It showed hierarchy. Lenin is the big brother; Kapsukas followed.

Unlike the large Lenin that once stood in Lukiškės Square in Vilnius, this was a more modest monument. Still, its message was strong. It connected Lithuanian communism directly to Moscow. Placing it near a university was symbolic. Students walked past it every day. The state wanted young people to see these men as heroes.

Who Was Kapsukas?

Vincas Kapsukas was a Lithuanian communist revolutionary. He worked closely with Lenin after the 1917 revolution. In Soviet Lithuania, he became an important figure in official history. Showing him next to Lenin gave Lithuania a place inside the Soviet story.

Removal After Independence

In 1990, Lithuania restored its independence, and Kapsukas’s legacy was reassessed. Instead of a national hero, he was increasingly viewed as a collaborator with Soviet imperialism. Removing the statues was therefore both symbolically urgent and politically risky. There was a fear of provoking Soviet military forces still stationed in Lithuania or the pro-Soviet Jedinstvo group.

The removal took place on a very cold morning at 4:45 hours. The 7.5-ton sculpture was simply resting on its pedestal. It was lifted by crane and transported via truck to a barn in the Kairėnai Botanical Garden.

Fearing the Soviets would find and reinstall the monument, the group decided to remove the heads. But because copper does not melt easily with a torch, they used a unique method: heating the metal until soft and then striking it with an axe. It took hours of labor to behead both figures.

The headless bodies were buried in a muddy pit inside the barn. The heads were hidden separately, eventually ending up in a student dormitory.

The heads were eventually reattached. Today, the sculpture is a permanent exhibit at Grūtas Park, a museum for Soviet-era monuments. Big Brother Lenin no longer stands at the university. But the message it once carried is still visible in bronze.