Siauliai [key], Ger. Schaulen, Rus. Shavli, city (1993 pop. 147,800), N Lithuania. It is a rail hub and has railroad repair shops. Siauliai is also a major tanning, shoe-manufacturing, and flax-processing center. First known in the 13th cent., Siauliai belonged from 1589 until 1772 to the Polish crown. It passed to Russia in 1795 and to newly independent Lithuania in 1920. Siauliai was the site of a Lithuanian victory over the Livonian Knights in 1236; the German free corps was defeated there in 1919. The city was severely damaged in both World Wars. The city has a university (est. 1997).
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