''Draugija'' (literally: ''society'', ''association'') was a

Lithuanian-language Lithuanian ( ) is an Eastern Baltic languages, Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the official language of Lithuania and one of the official languages of the Europ ...

magazine published in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

in 1907–1914, 1919–1923, and 1937–1940. Published by the

Society of Saint Casimir The Society of Saint Casimir ( lt, Šv. Kazimiero draugija) was a Lithuanian society that published Lithuanian-language books and periodicals, many on Roman Catholic church and faith. Established in 1905, right after the Lithuanian press ban was l ...

, it focused on the issues of Lithuanian culture, literature, science, and politics and was geared towards the

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the in ...

and the Catholic clergy. It urged everyone to work on developing the

Lithuanian culture Culture of Lithuania combines an indigenous heritage, represented by the unique Lithuanian language, with Nordic cultural aspects and Christian traditions resulting from historical ties with Poland. Although linguistic resemblances represent st ...

which would distinguish the Lithuanian nation from others and believed in slow and steady cultural work. The magazine critically reviewed essentially every more substantial work of

Lithuanian literature Lithuanian literature ( lt, lietuvių literatūra) concerns the art of written works created by Lithuanians throughout their history. History Latin language A wealth of Lithuanian literature was written in Latin, the main scholarly language in ...

, published articles to improve and standardize the Lithuanian language, discussed how to improve education, analyzed social and political issues in Lithuania, promoted

Christian democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

, criticized ultra-conservatives and attempted to find the proper place for the Catholic Church in modern society and science. Its issues usually had more than 100 pages and reached circulation of 1,000 copies. Its long-term editor was Catholic priest Adomas Jakštas (1907–1938). In total, 213 issues were published. Its supplement for Catholic youth ''Ateitis'' (Future) edited by

Pranas Dovydaitis Pranas Dovydaitis (; 2 December 1886 – 4 November 1942) was a Lithuanian politician, Prime Minister of Lithuania, teacher, encyclopedist, editor, and professor. Biography Pranas Dovydaitis was born in Marijampolė County, Runkiai and at ...

gave rise to the Lithuanian Catholic Federation

Ateitis The Lithuanian Catholic Federation "Ateitis" (literally: ''future'') is a youth organization in Lithuania uniting Catholic-minded schoolchildren, university students, and alumni. Ateitis is a member of the umbrella of Catholic youth organizatio ...

History

The

Lithuanian press ban The Lithuanian press ban ( lt, spaudos draudimas) was a ban on all Lithuanian language publications printed in the Latin alphabet in force from 1865 to 1904 within the Russian Empire, which controlled Lithuania proper at the time. Lithuanian-lan ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

was in effect from 1864 to 1904, thus the first Lithuanian cultural magazine '' Dirva'' was published by Antanas Milukas in the United States and the illegal '' Žinyčia'' established by

Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas Juozas Tumas also known by the pen name Vaižgantas (20 September 1869 – 29 April 1933) was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic priest and an activist during the Lithuanian National Revival. He was a prolific writer, editor of nine periodicals, univers ...

lasted only five issues. When the press ban was lifted in 1904, Lithuanians hurried to establish various periodicals. In July 1906, during a meeting of the newly established

for publishing Lithuanian books, it was decided to establish a new cultural magazine. It was understood that the magazine would be unprofitable due to the limited number of subscribers. The society's chairman Adomas Jakštas became the editor of ''Draugija''. The first issue was published in January 1907. The monthly magazine with circulation of 1,000 copies was printed at the press of

Saliamonas Banaitis Saliamonas Banaitis (; 15 July 1866 – 4 May 1933) was a Lithuanian printer, politician, and businessman. He was one of the twenty signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania in 1918. Early death of his father and brother forced Banait ...

. In February 1911, ''Draugija'' began publishing supplement for Catholic youth ''Ateitis'' (Future) edited by

. It had its own supplement which published samples of Lithuanian folklore (songs, riddles, proverbs, etc.) collected by the students. It gave rise to the Lithuanian Catholic Federation

and became an independent publication in 1913. In 1914, ''Draugija'' also published a supplement for teachers ''Mokytojas'' (Teacher) edited by . The magazine continued to be printed monthly until the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Jakštas and several others, as politically unreliable persons, were deported from Kaunas to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

by the commandant of the

Kaunas Fortress Kaunas Fortress ( lt, Kauno tvirtovė, russian: Кοвенская крепость, german: Festung Kowno) is the remains of a fortress complex in Kaunas, Lithuania. It was constructed and renovated between 1882 and 1915 to protect the Russian ...

. Therefore, the last four issues of 1914 of ''Draugija'' were published in one booklet in early 1915. The subsequent German occupation interrupted any further attempts to publish the magazine. German authorities allowed to reestablish the publication only in October 1918. The first issue appeared in January 1919. It was a monthly publication, but it would combine two issues into one booklet published every two months. From the beginning of 1923, it became the official publication of the newly established Faculty of Theology and Philosophy of the

University of Lithuania Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) ( lt, 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 ...

. However, the faculty dropped the magazine after it published a political article on the

Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party The Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party ( lt, Lietuvos krikščionių demokratų partija, LKDP) was a Christian-democratic political party in Lithuania. History Russian Empire and Republic of Lithuania A Christian Democratic movement was es ...

. ''Draugija'' was discontinued in October 1923 after 153 issues. It was partially replaced by ' published by the

Federation in 1925–1940. ''Draugija'' was revived as a periodical published every two weeks in 1937. Jakštas resumed editorship and after his death was replaced by . The magazine was discontinued after the Soviet occupation in June 1940.

Content

More than 150 authors contributed articles to ''Draugija'' before World War I. Its authors included

Jonas Basanavičius Jonas Basanavičius (, pl, Jan Basanowicz; 23 November 1851 – 16 February 1927) was an activist and proponent of the Lithuanian National Revival. He participated in every major event leading to the independent Lithuanian state and is often give ...

, Pranas Būčys,

Kazimieras Būga Kazimieras Būga (; November 6, 1879 – December 2, 1924) was a Lithuanian linguist and philologist. He was a professor of linguistics, who mainly worked on the Lithuanian language. He was born at Pažiegė, near Dusetos, then part of the Russi ...

Liudas Gira Liudas Gira (27 August 1884 in Vilnius – 1 July 1946 in Vilnius) was a Lithuanian poet, writer, and literary critic. His is noted for his early poetry, which resembles traditional Lithuanian folk songs. Gira was active in cultural and political ...

, Motiejus Gustaitis, Lazdynų Pelėda,

Petras Leonas Petras Leonas (1864–1938) was a Lithuanian attorney and politician, the first Minister of Justice of the newly independent Lithuania in 1918. After graduating from Moscow University in 1889, Leonas held a government job at various courts in S ...

Maironis Maironis (born Jonas Mačiulis, ; – 28 June 1932) was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic priest and the greatest and most-known Lithuanian poet, especially of the period of the Lithuanian press ban. He was called the Bard of Lithuanian National Reviv ...

Pranas Mašiotas Pranas Mašiotas (1863–1940) was a Lithuanian activist and educator best known as children's writer and translator. Born in Suvalkija to a family of Lithuanian farmers, Mašiotas attended Marijampolė Gymnasium and studied mathematics at Mo ...

Jurgis Matulaitis-Matulevičius Jurgis Matulaitis-Matulevičius, also known as Jerzy Bolesław Matulewicz-Matulaitis (13 April 1871 - 27 January 1927) was a Latin Church Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Vilnius from late 1918 until his resignation in 1925. Matulaitis ...

Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas Vincas Mykolaitis, known by his pen name Putinas (literally '' Viburnum'') (6 January 1893 in Pilotiškės, Suwałki Governorate – 7 June 1967 in Kačerginė), was a Lithuanian poet and writer. He was also a priest, but renounced his priesthoo ...

Juozas Purickis Juozas Purickis (sometimes Juozas Puryckis; often used pen name Vygandas; 1883–1934) was a prominent diplomat and journalist in interwar Lithuania and served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from June 1920 to December 1921, as well as the ac ...

Justinas Staugaitis Justinas Staugaitis (14 November 1866 near Šakiai – 8 July 1943, Telšiai) was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic bishop, politician, educator, and author. He was one of the twenty signatories to the Act of Independence of Lithuania. Staugaitis g ...

Stasys Šalkauskis Stasys Šalkauskis (May 16, 1886 in Ariogala, Lithuania – December 4, 1941 in Šiauliai, Soviet Union) was a Lithuanian philosopher, educator, rector of Vytautas Magnus University.Šatrijos Ragana,

Augustinas Voldemaras Augustinas Voldemaras (16 April 1883 – 16 May 1942) was a Lithuanian nationalist political figure. He briefly served as the country's first prime minister in 1918 and continued serving as the minister of foreign affairs until 1920, representing ...

Vydūnas Wilhelm Storost, artistic name Vilius Storostas-Vydūnas (22 March 1868 – 20 February 1953), mostly known as Vydūnas, was a Prussian-Lithuanian teacher, poet, humanist, philosopher and Lithuanian writer, a leader of the Prussian Lithuani ...

Social issues

The magazine devoted significant attention to issues in education. Russian public schools could accommodate only about a quarter of all children but Lithuanians were allowed to organize their own private schools only after the

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

. As new schools were organized by various parishes as well as the Saulė Society in

Kovno Governorate Kovno Governorate ( rus, Ковенская губеpния, r=Kovenskaya guberniya; lt, Kauno gubernija) or Governorate of Kaunas was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. Its capital was Kaunas (Kovno in Russian). It was formed ...

and

Žiburys Society Žiburys Society (''žiburys'' means light, beacon; lt, Lietuvių krikščionių draugija „Žiburys“) was a society established in 1906 that organized and maintained Lithuanian schools in the Suwałki Governorate of the Congress Poland, Rus ...

Suwałki Governorate Suwałki Governorate (russian: Сувалкская губерния, pl, gubernia suwalska, lt, Suvalkų gubernija) was a governorate (administrative area) of Congress Poland ("Russian Poland") which had its seat in the city of Suwałki. It co ...

, ''Draugija'' published numerous articles on the state of education in the country and plans for improving it, discussed school curriculum, teaching methods, child psychology, debated Catholic and secular approaches to education, reported on education practices in other countries (United States, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Ukraine, etc.), popularized new scientific achievements and explained science topics (e.g. about

paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

, comets, telepathy). The Russian Revolution also brought

class conflict Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

and other

social issues A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's cont ...

to the forefront. As Lithuanians organized the first societies for workers (e.g. Workers' Society of St. Joseph founded by Konstantinas Olšauskas or Society of Saint Zita), the magazine published articles debating the role of the Catholic Church, charities, mutual aid societies in addressing social issues, discussing

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and

bolshevism Bolshevism (from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined party of social revolution, fo ...

as well as broader concepts of

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

, addressing more specific issues of Lithuanian emigration to United States or

teetotalism Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or i ...

Literature, language, history

The magazine promoted the preservation of cultural heritage and development of the Lithuanian cultural revival. ''Draugija'' published literary works and their critical reviews. Each issue began with poems by known and newly discovered Lithuanian authors as well as translated poems of foreign authors such as

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...

. The magazine also published a few short stories by Lazdynų Pelėda, Šatrijos Ragana,

, , and others. It published four dramas: ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, a comedy by

Roderich Benedix Julius Roderich Benedix (21 January 1811 – 26 September 1873) was a German dramatist and librettist, born in Leipzig, where he was educated there at Thomasschule. He joined the stage in 1831, his first engagement being with the travelling compan ...

, a drama by

Paul Heyse Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse (; 15 March 1830 – 2 April 1914) was a distinguished German writer and translator. A member of two important literary societies, the ''Tunnel über der Spree'' in Berlin and ''Die Krokodile'' in Munich, he wrote no ...

, and historical drama ''Kęstučio mirtis'' (Death of

Kęstutis Kęstutis ( la, Kinstut, ; – 3 or 15 August 1382) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He was the Duke of Trakai and governed the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 1342–1382, together with his brother Algirdas (until 1377), and with his nephew Jogaila ...

) by

. Almost every more substantial new literary work in Lithuanian was critically reviewed by ''Draugija'', frequently by its editor Jakštas. These reviews were compiled and published separately in two-volume ''Mūsų naujoji literatūra'' (Our New Literature) in 1923. Other articles were devoted to reviewing works of certain writers, including Jonas Krikščiūnas (Jovaras),

Žemaitė Žemaitė (literally ''female Samogitian'') was the pen name of Julija Beniuševičiūtė-Žymantienė ( – 7 December 1921). She was a Lithuanian/Samogitian writer, democrat and educator. Born to impoverished gentry, she became one of the maj ...

Jonas Biliūnas Jonas Biliūnas (11 April 1879 – 8 December 1907) was a Lithuanian writer, poet, and a significant contributor to the national awakening of Lithuania in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Biography Early life Biliūnas was born near A ...

, etc. ''Draugija'' also published historical studies on the

, including on

Dionizas Poška Dionizas Poška (; October 1764 – 12 May 1830) was a Lithuanian poet, historian and lexicographer sometimes described also as Polish-Lithuanian He contributed to the early 19th-century Samogitian Revival, the early stage of the Lithuanian Nati ...

Antanas Baranauskas Antanas Baranauskas ( la, Antonius Baranovski, pl, Antoni Baranowski; 17 January 1835 – 26 November 1902) was a Lithuanian poet, mathematician and Catholic bishop of Sejny. Baranauskas is best known as the author of the Lithuanian poem '' An ...

, , ''

Aušra ''Aušra'' or ''Auszra'' (literally: ''dawn'') was the first national Lithuanian newspaper. The first issue was published in 1883, in Ragnit, East Prussia, Germany (newspaper credited it as lt, Ragainė) East Prussia's ethnolinguistic part - ...

''.

Juozas Gabrys Juozas Gabrys or Juozas Gabrys-Paršaitis (February 22, 1880 – July 26, 1951) was a Lithuanian politician and diplomat, best remembered for his efforts to popularize the idea of Lithuania's independence in the West during World War I. Early l ...

published a synthesis that covered not only individual authors, but also

Lithuanian Chronicles The Lithuanian Chronicles ( lt, Lietuvos metraščiai, also called Belarusian-Lithuanian Chronicles) are three redactions of chronicles compiled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. All redactions were written in the Ruthenian language and served the ne ...

and Lithuanian folklore. A few articles were published on foreign authors (

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...

). The magazine frequently published articles dealing with the Lithuanian language, its history, standardization,

syntax In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituency) ...

lexicon A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Koine Greek language, Greek word (), neuter of () ...

, often written by linguist

. In particular, the magazine dealt with identification of various

loan word A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because the ...

s and barbarisms in Catholic texts and their replacement with Lithuanian equivalents. After the death of linguist

Kazimieras Jaunius Kazimieras Jaunius (1848–1908) was a Lithuanian Catholic priest and linguist. While Jaunius published very little, his major achievements include a well regarded Lithuanian grammar, systematization and classification of the Lithuanian diale ...

, one entire issue was dedicated to him. The magazine also published articles on the

philosophy of language In analytic philosophy, philosophy of language investigates the nature of language and the relations between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of meaning, intentionality, reference, ...

and

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

(translated from a work by

Jan Baudouin de Courtenay Jan Niecisław Ignacy Baudouin de Courtenay (13 March 1845 – 3 November 1929) was a Polish linguist and Slavist, best known for his theory of the phoneme and phonetic alternations. For most of his life Baudouin de Courtenay worked at Imperi ...

). ''Draugija'' also published articles on topics from the

history of Lithuania The history of Lithuania dates back to settlements founded many thousands of years ago, but the first written record of the name for the country dates back to 1009 AD. Lithuanians, one of the Baltic peoples, later conquered neighboring lands an ...

, for example about King

Mindaugas Mindaugas (german: Myndowen, la, Mindowe, orv, Мендог, be, Міндоўг, pl, Mendog, c. 1203–1263) is the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only crowned King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or r ...

Battle of Grunwald The Battle of Grunwald, Battle of Žalgiris or First Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respec ...

, Reformation in Lithuania,

. Jakštas wrote numerous obituaries.

References

External links