Martynas Jankus
Encyclopedia
Martin Jankus (August 7, 1858 in Bittehnen (lit. Bitėnai), near Ragnit – May 23, 1946 in Flensburg
, Germany
, reburied in Bitėnai cemetery on May 30, 1993) was a Prussian-Lithuanian printer, social activist and publisher in East Prussia
, called the Patriarch of Lithuania Minor
. He was one of the publishers of Aušra
, the first Lithuanian-language newspaper. Jankus used various pen name
s, including V. Giedris, Martyneitis, Bitėnų Merčius, Gyvoleitis.
movement in Lithuania. He was one of the founders of several cultural organizations, including Birutė, founded in 1885 in Tilsit. In 1889-1892 Jankus was its chairman. In 1890, together with Dovas Zaunius and Jonas Smalakis, Jankus founded the first Lithuanian political organization in East Prussia. He maintained active correspondence with Lithuanian Americans and activists of the Latvia
n, Polish
and Belarus
ian national movements.
For his public activities Martynas Jankus was penalized by the Prussian authorities about forty times – arrests, monetary fines, and the like. He spent his earnings on the publication of Lithuanian books and newspapers during the Lithuanian press ban
in Russia. Jankus was one of the suppliers for the knygnešiai
, smugglers of illegal books into Russia. After the Russian Empire
occupied the Klaipėda Region
in December 1914, Jankus and his family were exiled to Samara Governorate in Siberia
, where his father and his youngest son Andrius died. In 1918, Jankus returned to his homeland, where he actively promoted the idea of incorporating Lithuania Minor into Lithuania proper
. In November 1918 Jankus signed the Act of Tilsit
. In 1920 he was co-opted into the Council of Lithuania
and later became chairman of the Supreme Salvation Committee of Lithuania Minor. In 1925 Jankus returned to live in Bitėnai.
After the Klaipėda Region was seized by Germany following the ultimatum of 1939
, Jankus moved to Kaunas
, the temporary capital of Lithuania
. During the Nazi occupation he was forbidden to deliver public speeches. In 1944 he returned to Bitėnai and was forced to evacuate by Nazi
authorities. Martynas Jankus died in Germany, but expressed his will to his daughter that his body should be burned and, when Lithuania had regained independence, his ashes should be moved to the Bitėnai cemetery.
songs
that he had collected himself. In 1883 he was one of the founders of Aušra
, the first Lithuanian-language newspaper. Jankus not only supported the publication financially, but also served as its editor. He also published Aušros kalendorius (1884–1885) and the newspaper Garsas (1886–1887). Jankus was also behind the first Lithuanian-language satirical newspaper Tetutė. Other newspapers published by Jankus include Naujoji Aušra (1892), Lietuviškas darbininkas (1894), Ūkininkų prietelius, Saulėteka (1900–1902), Dienos lapas (1909–1910, Jankus was an editor), Varpas
and Ūkininkas
. Jankus himself wrote 45 books and booklets.
in Russia, Bitėnai also served as a warehouse for illegal Lithuanian books and the Aušra archives. After the Lithuanian press ban was lifted in 1904, the printing house lost its significance and went bankrupt in 1909. The equipment was sold in 1912.
Many works by Lithuanian authors were published for the first time by Jankus. Such works included the historical novel Senutė by Vydūnas
, over 50 booklets by Petras Vileišis
, the first chapter of Metai
by Kristijonas Donelaitis
(first publication in Latin script), and other works by contemporary Lithuanian authors, including Jonas Biliūnas
, Lazdynų Pelėda
, Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė
, Krikščiukaitis-Aišbė, and others.
Flensburg
Flensburg is an independent town in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the region of Southern Schleswig...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, reburied in Bitėnai cemetery on May 30, 1993) was a Prussian-Lithuanian printer, social activist and publisher in East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
, called the Patriarch of Lithuania Minor
Lithuania Minor
Lithuania Minor or Prussian Lithuania is a historical ethnographic region of Prussia, later East Prussia in Germany, where Prussian Lithuanians or Lietuvininkai lived. Lithuania Minor enclosed the northern part of this province and got its name due to the territory's substantial...
. He was one of the publishers of Aušra
Aušra
Aušra 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...
, the first Lithuanian-language newspaper. Jankus used various pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
s, including V. Giedris, Martyneitis, Bitėnų Merčius, Gyvoleitis.
Biography
After graduating from a primary school in Bitėnai, Jankus continued self-education. Since the last decade of the 19th century he was an important figure in the pro-Lithuanian movement, and was close to the Lithuanian National RevivalLithuanian National Revival
Lithuanian National Revival, alternatively Lithuanian National Awakening , was a period of the history of Lithuania in the 19th century at the time when a major part of Lithuanian inhabited areas belonged to the Russian Empire...
movement in Lithuania. He was one of the founders of several cultural organizations, including Birutė, founded in 1885 in Tilsit. In 1889-1892 Jankus was its chairman. In 1890, together with Dovas Zaunius and Jonas Smalakis, Jankus founded the first Lithuanian political organization in East Prussia. He maintained active correspondence with Lithuanian Americans and activists of the 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...
n, Polish
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...
and Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
ian national movements.
For his public activities Martynas Jankus was penalized by the Prussian authorities about forty times – arrests, monetary fines, and the like. He spent his earnings on the publication of Lithuanian books and newspapers during the Lithuanian press ban
Lithuanian press ban
The Lithuanian press ban was a ban on all Lithuanian language publications printed in the Latin alphabet within the Russian Empire, which controlled Lithuania at the time. Lithuanian-language publications that used the Cyrillic alphabet were allowed and even encouraged...
in Russia. Jankus was one of the suppliers for the knygnešiai
Knygnešiai
Book smugglers were people who transported Lithuanian language books printed in the Latin alphabet into Lithuanian-speaking areas of the Russian Empire, defying a ban on such materials in force from 1866 to 1904...
, smugglers of illegal books into Russia. After 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...
occupied the Klaipėda Region
Klaipėda Region
The Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors...
in December 1914, Jankus and his family were exiled to Samara Governorate in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, where his father and his youngest son Andrius died. In 1918, Jankus returned to his homeland, where he actively promoted the idea of incorporating Lithuania Minor into Lithuania proper
Lithuania proper
Lithuania proper refers to a region which existed within Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and spoke Lithuanian language. The primary meaning is identical to the Duchy of Lithuania, a land around which Grand Duchy of Lithuania evolved...
. In November 1918 Jankus signed the Act of Tilsit
Act of Tilsit
The Act of Tilsit was an act, signed in Tilsit by 24 members of the National Council of Lithuania Minor on November 30, 1918. Signatories demanded unification of Lithuania Minor and Lithuania Proper into a single Lithuanian state...
. In 1920 he was co-opted into the Council of Lithuania
Council of Lithuania
The Council of Lithuania , after July 11, 1918 The State Council of Lithuania , was convened at the Vilnius Conference that took place between September 18 and 23, 1917. The council was granted the executive authority of the Lithuanian people and was entrusted to establish an independent...
and later became chairman of the Supreme Salvation Committee of Lithuania Minor. In 1925 Jankus returned to live in Bitėnai.
After the Klaipėda Region was seized by Germany following the ultimatum of 1939
1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania
1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania was an oral ultimatum presented to Juozas Urbšys, Foreign Minister of Lithuania, by Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany, on March 20, 1939...
, Jankus moved to Kaunas
Kaunas
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
, the temporary capital of Lithuania
Temporary capital of Lithuania
The temporary capital of Lithuania was the official designation of the city of Kaunas in Lithuania during the interwar period. It was in contrast to the declared capital in Vilnius , which was under Polish control from 1920 until 1939...
. During the Nazi occupation he was forbidden to deliver public speeches. In 1944 he returned to Bitėnai and was forced to evacuate by Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
authorities. Martynas Jankus died in Germany, but expressed his will to his daughter that his body should be burned and, when Lithuania had regained independence, his ashes should be moved to the Bitėnai cemetery.
Publisher
During 1882–1883 Jankus published LithuanianLithuanians
Lithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,765,600 people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland. Their native language...
songs
Daina (Lithuania)
Daina is the traditional name of vocal folk music in the Baltic languages, and is preserved in Lithuania and Latvia. Lithuanian dainas are often noted not only for their mythological content, but also for relating historical events....
that he had collected himself. In 1883 he was one of the founders of Aušra
Aušra
Aušra 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...
, the first Lithuanian-language newspaper. Jankus not only supported the publication financially, but also served as its editor. He also published Aušros kalendorius (1884–1885) and the newspaper Garsas (1886–1887). Jankus was also behind the first Lithuanian-language satirical newspaper Tetutė. Other newspapers published by Jankus include Naujoji Aušra (1892), Lietuviškas darbininkas (1894), Ūkininkų prietelius, Saulėteka (1900–1902), Dienos lapas (1909–1910, Jankus was an editor), Varpas
Varpas
Varpas was a monthly Lithuanian-language newspaper published during the Lithuanian press ban from January 1889 to December 1905...
and Ūkininkas
Ūkininkas
Ūkininkas or Ukinįkas was a monthly Lithuanian-language newspaper published during the Lithuanian press ban by the editorial staff of Varpas from 1890 to 1905...
. Jankus himself wrote 45 books and booklets.
Printing house
In 1889 he bought a printing house in Ragnit, which was later moved to Tilsit where it was active until 1892. Then the printing house was moved to Jankus' own house in Bitėnai, where it operated until 1909. At its peak, the house had three printing machines. It is estimated that Jankus printing house published at least 360 books and 25 periodicals. During the Lithuanian press banLithuanian press ban
The Lithuanian press ban was a ban on all Lithuanian language publications printed in the Latin alphabet within the Russian Empire, which controlled Lithuania at the time. Lithuanian-language publications that used the Cyrillic alphabet were allowed and even encouraged...
in Russia, Bitėnai also served as a warehouse for illegal Lithuanian books and the Aušra archives. After the Lithuanian press ban was lifted in 1904, the printing house lost its significance and went bankrupt in 1909. The equipment was sold in 1912.
Many works by Lithuanian authors were published for the first time by Jankus. Such works included the historical novel Senutė by Vydūnas
Vydunas
Wilhelm Storost, artistic name Vilius Storostas-Vydūnas , mostly known as Vydūnas, was a Prussian-Lithuania teacher, poet, humanist, philosopher and Lithuanian...
, over 50 booklets by Petras Vileišis
Petras Vileišis
Petras Vileišis was a prominent Lithuanian engineer, political activist, and philanthropist.His early schooling took place in Panevežys. He then completed his secondary education at the Šiauliai Gymnasium, graduating with honors. In 1874, he completed his studies at St. Petersburg University, with...
, the first chapter of Metai
The Seasons (poem)
The Seasons ' is the first Lithuanian poem written by Kristijonas Donelaitis around 1765–1775. It was published as "Das Jahr" in Königsberg, 1818 by Ludwig Rhesa, who also entitled the poem and selected the arrangement of the parts. The German translation was included in the first edition of the...
by Kristijonas Donelaitis
Kristijonas Donelaitis
Kristijonas Donelaitis was a Prussian Lithuanian Lutheran pastor and poet. He lived and worked in Lithuania Minor, a territory in the Kingdom of Prussia, that had a sizable minority of ethnic Lithuanians...
(first publication in Latin script), and other works by contemporary Lithuanian authors, including Jonas Biliūnas
Jonas Biliunas
Jonas Biliūnas was a Lithuanian writer, poet, and a significant contributor to the national awakening of Lithuania in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Biography:...
, Lazdynų Pelėda
Lazdynų Pelėda
Lazdynų Pelėda was the common pen name of two Lithuanian sisters writers:* Sofija Ivanauskaitė-Pšibiliauskienė * Marija Ivanauskaitė-Lastauskienė...
, Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė
Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė
Gabrielė Petkevičaitė was a Lithuanian writer and activist. Her pen name Bitė eventually became part of her last name.-Biography:...
, Krikščiukaitis-Aišbė, and others.
Awards
- 1928 – awarded Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke GediminasOrder of the Lithuanian Grand Duke GediminasThe 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...
, 3rd level - 1938 – awarded Order of Vytautas the GreatOrder of Vytautas the GreatThe Order of Vytautas the Great is the Lithuanian Presidential Award. It may be conferred on the heads of Lithuania and foreign states, as well as their citizens, for distinguished services to the State of Lithuania.-History:...
, 2nd level - 1928 – awarded Crown Order by ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, 3rd level - 1939 – bustBust (sculpture)A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
was built in KaunasKaunasKaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation... - 1981 – Martynas Jankus memorial museum was established in Bitėnai. In 1999 it was moved to the reconstructed Jankus printing house.