Jonas Biliunas
Encyclopedia
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n writer, poet, and a significant contributor to the national awakening of Lithuania in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Biography
Biliūnas was born near AnykščiaiAnykšciai
Anykščiai is a ski resort town in Lithuania, 20 miles west of Utena. The Roman Catholic Church of St. Matthias in Anykščiai is the tallest church in Lithuania, with spires measuring 79 meters in height.The city has a football club FK Anykščiai.-Name:...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
under the rule of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, in the tiny village of Niūronys, where he spent his early childhood. Between 1891 and 1899, he attended the secondary school in Liepāja
Liepaja
Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...
(now in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
), and in 1900 matriculated as a medical student at the University of Tartu
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. University of Tartu is the national university of Estonia; it is the biggest and highest-ranked university in Estonia...
(now in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
). He had already been writing for various publications of a socialist nature under the pseudonyms of J. Anykštėnas, Jonas Gražys, J. Barzdyla, as well as others. His anti-Tsarist activities caused him to be expelled from medical school in 1901, and he returned to Lithuania, living in Šiauliai
Šiauliai
Šiauliai , is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 133,900. It is the capital of Šiauliai County. Unofficially, the city is the capital of Northern Lithuania.-Names:...
and Panevėžys
Panevežys
Panevėžys see also other names, is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2008, it occupied 50 square kilometers with 113,653 inhabitants. The largest multifunctional arena in Panevėžys is the Cido Arena...
, until 1903. After several unsuccessful attempts to return to the University of Tartu, Biliūnas journeyed to Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, in the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, where he enrolled in the Handelshochschule, a business and commercial school. It was around this period that Biliūnas took a greater interest in literature in general, and creative writing in particular. After one semester at the business school, he decided to enroll at the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
where he began his formal studies of literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
with an emphasis on literary composition.
Signs of ill health in Biliūnas had already begun to manifest themselves during his earlier studies at Tartu. By 1904, it became clear that he was suffering from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, and the disease had done considerable damage to his health. After spending the summer of 1904 in Lithuania, Biliūnas continued his literary studies by enrolling at the University of Zurich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
that autumn. Within a year the disease had progressed to the stage where he had to abandon his studies, and he was admitted into a tuberculosis sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
, in Zakopane
Zakopane
Zakopane , is a town in southern Poland. It lies in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998 it was in of Nowy Sącz Province, but since 1999 it has been in Lesser Poland Province. It had a population of about 28,000 as of 2004. Zakopane is a...
(now in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
). After briefly visiting with his family in Lithuania during the summer of 1906, Biliūnas returned to the sanatorium where his short life ended on December 8, 1907. The two World Wars, and other political considerations, prevented Biliūnas' desire to have his remains returned to Lithuania. Finally in 1953, his wishes were realized, and he was re-interred on a hillfort mound near his birthplace, and a museum was created in Anykščiai
Anykšciai
Anykščiai is a ski resort town in Lithuania, 20 miles west of Utena. The Roman Catholic Church of St. Matthias in Anykščiai is the tallest church in Lithuania, with spires measuring 79 meters in height.The city has a football club FK Anykščiai.-Name:...
, honoring his life and works.
Literary works and assessment
Biliūnas is considered to have two distinct periods in his literary career. The first spans the years 1900-1903, and the second, 1904-1907. Most of his works are short storiesShort Stories
Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
, and often have autobiographical inclusions dealing with his own personal life's experiences. In the first period, a realistic style imbued with a strong social consciousness is prevalent in his writings. Two of his works from this period include Be darbo (Unemployed), and Pirmutinis streikas (First Strike). The political ideology of a socialist nature permeate this period and are reminiscent of the early writings of Jack London
Jack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
and Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of...
. Possibly as a result of his debilitating illness, which in that time period was inevitably fatal, Biliūnas underwent a spiritual metamorphosis. His political activities and interests were supplanted by a melancholy, and a departure from realism, which were now manifested in his writings of the second period. Brisiaus galas (The End of Brisius), is a tear-jerking recounting of the demise of a family dog with the thoughts of the dog interspersed with the thoughts of his owner. Ant Uetlibergo giedra (Fine Weather on the Uetliberg) is almost a travelog of his perspective of the Swiss Alps
Swiss Alps
The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position within the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....
near Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
. Liūdna pasaka (A Sad Tale) is his longest work and is a psychological drama dealing with the Uprising of 1863
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
. In this work the main character, a woman, is driven to ruin as a consequence of the uprising, and her story is told from a psychological vantage point. During the period between 1900 and 1905, Biliūnas wrote approximately fifteen poems, including several sonnets. These sonnets were influenced by his studies of Petrarch
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
. Most critical reviews of his poems are of the opinion that they fall short of his other writings. Interestingly Biliūnas wrote several articles concerning literary criticism, which are highly regarded and considered to show his depth of perception concerning the subjects he dealt with.
Most of Jonas Biliūnas' works were published posthumously, and have been translated in many different languages.
Collected works
- Įvairūs apsakymėliai. Tilžė: AušraAušraAušra or Auszra was the first national Lithuanian newspaper. The first issue was published in 1883, in Ragnit, East Prussia, Germany East Prussia's ethnolinguistic part - Lithuania Minor. Later it was published monthly in Tilsit...
, 1906. 64 p. - Liūdna pasaka: kūrybos rinktinė. Vilnius: J. Zavadskis publishing house, 1908. 32 p.
- Žemės gyvenimo reiškiniai. Berlin, 1923. 72 p. (issued 1905; 1921)
- Liūdna pasaka: kūrybos rinktinė. Kaunas, 1937. 73 p.
- Kliudžiau: Kaunas: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1946.
- Raštai. Kaunas: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1947.
- Nemunu: apsakymėliai. Kaunas: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1947. 98 p.
- Joniukas. Vilnius: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1948. 24 p. (reissued by. Vaga: 1974; 1979)
- Laimės žiburys. Vilnius: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1949. 14 p.
- Lazda. Vilnius: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1959. 329 p.
- Liūdna pasaka: kūrybos rinktinė. Vilnius: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1963. 50 p.
- Žvaigždė: apsakymai. Vilnius: Vaga, 1965. 70 p.
- Laimės žiburys: apsakymai. Vilnius: Vaga, 1965 (reissued. 1976). 79 p.
- Apsakymai. Vilnius: Vaga, 1967 . 77 p. (переизд. 1984)
- Liūdna pasaka: kūrybos rinktinė. Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 1995. 132 p. ISBN 9986-403-67-7
- Kūdikystės sapnai: kūrybos rinktinė. Anykščiai: A. Baranausko ir A. Vienuolio-Žukausko memor. muz., 2001. 121 p.
- Apsakymai; Eilėraščiai. Kaunas: SPAB Spindulys, 2001. 79 p.
- Kliudžiau: apsakymas vaikams. Panevėžys: E. Vaičekauskas boosktsore printing house, 2003. 15 p.
- Proza. Vilnius: Žaltvykslė, 2004. 63 p.
- Kūdikystės sapnai: kūrybos rinktinė / Prepared by Alma Ambraškaitė. Utena: Utenos Indra, 2005. 100 p. ISBN 9986-711-94-0.