Juozas Kralikauskas was a novelist and short story author.

Biography

Kralikauskas graduated from the seminary in Kaunas

Kaunas Priest Seminary

Kaunas Priest Seminary is the largest seminary in Lithuania serving the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kaunas. It is part of the Faculty of Theology of Vytautas Magnus University. Its current rector is Aurelijus Žukauskas. As of 2007, the seminary had 35 students...

 in 1928. After spending some years teaching, he attended a military academy and Vytautas Magnus University

Vytautas Magnus University

Vytautas Magnus University ) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university...

, graduating from the latter with a degree in the humanities in 1940. In 1944 he moved to Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada, and worked in the Pickle Lake

Pickle Lake, Ontario

Pickle Lake is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the most northerly community in the province that has year-round access by road. Located north of Thunder Bay, highway access is via Highway 599, the only access road to the town from the south. More northerly communities rely...

 gold mines. He returned to Lithuania in 1994.

Work

His literary debut was made in 1937 with the short story Septyni kalavijai (Seven Swords). His next work, Urviniai žmonės (Cave People), did not appear until 1954. His literary output from then until his death consisted of historical fiction

Historical fiction

Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...

 dramatizing the lives of Mindaugas

Mindaugas

Mindaugas was the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or rise to power; he is mentioned in a 1219 treaty as an elder duke, and in 1236 as the leader of all the Lithuanians...

, Vaišvilkas

Vaišvilkas

Vaišelga or Vaišvilkas was the Grand Duke of Lithuania...

, Tautvila, Martynas Mažvydas

Martynas Mažvydas

Martynas Mažvydas Martynas Mažvydas Martynas Mažvydas (1510 near Žemaičių Naumiestis (now in Šilutė district municipality) - May 21, 1563 in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) was the author and the editor of the first printed book in the Lithuanian language....

, and other medieval figures. The novels include metaphysical and psychoanalytical elements. They have been translated into Russian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Chinese, and other languages.

He was awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas

Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas

The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this Order. The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke...

Fifth Class in 1999.

Footnotes