Background
He was the son of the poet and diplomat Jurgis Baltrušaitis. Baltrušaitis was born in Moscow.
Diplomat historian art historian
He was the son of the poet and diplomat Jurgis Baltrušaitis. Baltrušaitis was born in Moscow.
Under his influence Baltrušaitis chose to study the history of art
After Lithuania was occupied by the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics in 1945, he served as a diplomat in exile. One of his first teachers was the Russian poet and writer Boris Pasternak. In 1924 he moved to Paris and began theater studies at the Sorbonne under the guidance of Professor Henri Focillon.
He went on to do research in Armenia, Georgia, Spain, Italy, and Germany, receiving a doctorate from the Sorbonne in 1931.
Later that year he became the cultural attache at the Lithuanian Legation in Paris. Between 1933 and 1939 Baltrušaitis taught art history at the University of Kaunas, as well as lecturing at the Sorbonne and at the Warburg Institute in London.
After World World War II he delivered lectures at New York University, Yale University, Harvard University, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Artist His diplomatic efforts included writing for the French press on Lithuanian issues, and representing Lithuania in international organizations such as the Academie Internationale des Sciences et des Lettres and the Lithuanian Legation in Paris.
Baltrušaitis died in Paris.
Algirdas Julius Greimas once noted that in the West the elder Jurgis Baltrušaitis is known as the father of a famous art historian, but in Eastern Europe - the younger Jurgis Baltrušaitis is known as the son of a famous poet.