In 2018, Lithuanians were the sixth most likely nationality to both immigrate to Denmark and leave – a feat for a country with only 2.8 million inhabitants.
In fact, it is estimated worldwide that the Lithuanian diaspora group can claim over a million people with large accumulations in the United States, Britain, Brazil, Russia and Canada.
Rising rising numbers
Denmark is not so far behind. As of 2019, 14,768 Lithuanians lived here, and the number is steadily increasing.
It is one of the country’s fast growing diaspora communities.
Different paths, different stories
Many come to Denmark to study or to follow career paths, and some establish their own business and gain expertise in the academic world.
We have caught up with six successful Lithuanians who currently live in Denmark, each with their only very different history. Our contributors go different career paths to pursue their dreams in different industries.
Dr. Darius Mardosas
Dr. Darius Mardosas is head of clinic, Mental Health Center Glostrup, Copenhagen University Hospital. Psychiatric Center Glostrup is a large university psychiatric hospital in the western part of Denmark’s capital Copenhagen.
Dr. Mardosas’ department provides psychiatric care, both outpatient and outpatient, to approximately 5,000 contacts per year. The center consists of a psychiatric emergency department and 170 equal beds in 62 intensive care units and 108 open wards.
The department also supervises 16 different outpatient clinics that take care of patients according to their diagnosis, such as affective disorder, psychotic disorder, oligophrenia, geriatrics, ADHD or autism, etc. The clinic also has a large research department (neuropsychiatry, psychopathology) with three professors.
Inga Merkyte
Vilnius-born Inga Merkyte, chairman and co-founder of the Lithuanian Society in Denmark, is a renowned archaeologist – a vocation she set out to answer when she found a coin storage at the age of nine.
She studied history at Vilnius University and after moving to Denmark in 1992, she continued her studies in computer science and archeology at the University of Copenhagen. She is a Ph.D. in archeology from Aarhus University.
Her research has taken her far and wide: Europe, Russia, Brazil, Kyrgyzstan and since 2002 primarily in West Africa (mainly Benin and Ghana), where she has co-founded three new museums.
Inga is the editor of the Scandinavian annual Acta Archaeologica, author of two monographs and several articles. A passionate forester and table tennis player, she has two children and is a widow.
Jokลซbas Ragauskas
Jokลซbas Ragauskas is a cultural curator based in Copenhagen. A few years ago, he founded an art collective called Noisy Beehive, which aims to collaborate with local cultural centers, venues and independent record companies that provide a performance platform for local musicians and artists.
Jokลซbas collaborates with the Lithuanian Embassy in Denmark, and he is currently running a Danish-Lithuanian cultural exchange program between a number of cultural houses in Lithuania and music venues in Denmark, which facilitates a larger movement of artists between the Nordic and Baltic regions.
Educated as an urban anthropologist, Jokลซbas’ projects tend to focus on community building and the use of temporal spaces in urban environments.
Kotryna Kurt
Kotryna Kurt is the founder of a consulting firm called Linkedist, where she helps other companies grow with the power of LinkedIn marketing and advertising.
She is also an active contributor and content creator on LinkedIn, where she primarily talks about entrepreneurship, leadership, sales and marketing.
Over the past two years, Kotryna has delivered more than 100 workshops and helped various accelerators train startups. She is primarily interested in startup ecosystems, investments, MarkTech and digital marketing.
Dainius Kniukลกta
Dainius Kniukลกta is senior digital product manager at AP Moller-Maersk. He has been involved in technology already during the school year and now has more than 15 years of global professional experience working for Maersk, Adform, Vilnius University and a handful of startups.
After his all-Lithuanian education in IT, computer science and business, his career has seen him work on the development and scaling of many analytical ad-tech and log-tech solutions, and he currently leads a digital platform and product development across all Maersk brands globally.
Dainius credits his success with his ability to present innovative solutions, overcome the challenges he sets himself and honestly express himself.
Dainius believes that participation in the Lithuanian professionals in Copenhagen is a platform for meaningful connections and solid representation of Lithuanians in Denmark.
Mantas Jurkus
Mantas Jurkus moved to Copenhagen in 2007 with the intention of continuing his studies, but what was to be a temporary flirtation with the bar business became a long-term relationship.
After a few years behind the bar, Mantas tied a knot with the bar industry and opened the Black Swan craft beer bar on Borgergade in a central part of Copenhagen. Since 2012, Black Swan has been serving craft beers with top cordial service and it has become a favorite of many.
A bird in the hand then became two in 2019, when Blue Raven bar opened its doors on Drogdensgade in Amager. Both bars are very popular with expats as well as the local community.
Due to Mantas’ Lithuanian background, Black Swan and Blue Raven are some of the very few companies in Copenhagen that regularly have ล vyturys Baltas, a Lithuanian wheat beer. Occasionally, other small Lithuanian breweries are proudly represented in the bar, where they share space with some of the world’s best breweries.
Source: The Nordic Page