Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) (Lithuanian: Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas (VDU)) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known as the University of Lithuania, but in 1930 the university was renamed to Vytautas Magnus University, commemorating 500 years of death of Vytautas the Great, the Lithuanian ruler, well known for the nation's greatest historical expansion in the 15th century. It is one of the leading universities of Lithuania, has now about 8,700 students, including Master and Ph.D. candidates. There are a little less than 1000 employees, including approximately 70 professors. The beginnings of higher education in Lithuania go back to the 16th century when, in 1579, the college founded by Jesuits in Vilnius became a higher school of education - Academia et Universitas Vilnensis. In 1832 in the aftermath of the November Uprising Czar Nicholas I closed the university. However, in 1918, with the establishment of the independent Republic of Lithuania, the State Council decided to reestablish the Vilnius University.