Jonas Šliūpas (6 March 1861 – 6 November 1944) was a prominent and prolific Lithuanian activist during the
Lithuanian National Revival. For 35 years, he lived in the United States working to build
national consciousness of
Lithuanian Americans. He edited numerous periodicals, organized various societies, and published some 70 books and brochures on various topics. His sharp criticism of the
Catholic Church made him highly controversial and unpopular among the conservative Lithuanians.
Šliūpas was educated at home and by his relatives before he enrolled in the
Mitau Gymnasium
Jelgava Gymnasium or Academia Petrina is the oldest higher educational establishment in Latvia. Based on an idea by , it was established in Mitau, capital of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, by Duke Peter von Biron in 1775. The duke wanted t ...
in present-day Latvia. There he read works by
John William Draper
John William Draper (May 5, 1811 – January 4, 1882) was an English-born American scientist, philosopher, physician, chemist, historian and photographer. He is credited with producing the first clear photograph of a female face (1839–40) and ...
that Šliūpas credited for laying the foundations for his lifelong dedication to
freethought
Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...
, promotion of science, and criticism of the Catholic Church. His studies at the
Moscow University
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
and
Saint Petersburg Imperial University were cut short when was imprisoned for participating in a student riot in 1882. He was released due to an illness and, fearing
conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
, he fled to Switzerland and later
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
. He accepted an offer to edit ''
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 - ...
'', the first Lithuanian newspaper. Šliūpas edited eight issues in 1883–1884 and introduced some
socialist ideas. German police detected some elements of
Pan-Slavism in his writings and forced him to leave. Šliūpas arrived to
New York City in June 1884 and, despite severe financial hardships, he began publishing Lithuanian newspapers ''Unija'' and ''
Lietuviškasis balsas
''Lietuviškasis balsas'' (original spelling: ''Lietuwiszkasis Bałsas''; literally: The Lithuanian Voice) was a Lithuanian-language newspaper published by Jonas Šliūpas from July 1885 to February 1889 in New York City and Shenandoah, Pennsylva ...
'' and helped establishing the first Lithuanian parish that was separate from Polish. Soon, Pennsylvania Lithuanians began publishing ''
Vienybė lietuvninkų
''Vienybė lietuvninkų'' (literally: Lithuanian Unity) was a Lithuanian-language weekly newspapers published in the United States from February 1886 to January 1921. Established by two Lithuanian American businessmen in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, ...
'' in response to Šliūpas' anti-Catholic and anti-Polish rhetoric. In 1888, Šliūpas moved from New York to
Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, where many Lithuanian immigrants worked in local coal mines. The new parish priest became a collaborator with Šliūpas and brokered a short-lived peace between Šliūpas and the Catholic camp. Burba helped Šliūpas to establish the
Lithuanian Scientific Society
The Lithuanian Scientific Society ( lt, Lietuvių mokslo draugija) was a scientific, cultural, and educational organization that was active between 1907 and 1940 in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was founded in 1907 on the initiative of Jonas Basanavič ...
and provided financial help for his studies. To secure means of making a decent living, Šliūpas studied medicine at the
University of Maryland School of Medicine and started a successful private medical practice in 1891. The collaboration with Burba broke down in 1892.
Šliūpas anti-religious and pro-socialist views grew stronger and louder. He published socialist weekly magazine ''Nauja gadynė'' (1894–1896), freethrought monthly magazine ''Laisvoji mintis'' (1910–1914), various mainly translated texts promoting freethought and publicizing the
conflict thesis between
Christianity and science
Most sources of knowledge available to early Christians were connected to pagan world-views. There were various opinions on how Christianity should regard pagan learning, which included its ideas about nature. For instance, among early Christia ...
, and texts on the
history of Lithuania (on the origins of Lithuanians in 1899 and three-volume history of Lithuania in 1904–1909). He organized Lithuanian miners in response to the
Lattimer massacre in September 1897 and during the
Coal strike of 1902 and unsuccessfully ran in the elections to the
United States House of Representatives in 1896 and 1900. Šliūpas organized local socialist groups and joined the organized in May 1905. He quickly withdrew form the party and more active socialist work, though continued to sympathize with socialist ideas. He was a popular public speaker and by 1907 had given over 1,000 lectures on political, social, religious and scientific subjects. At the outbreak of
World War I, Šliūpas organized the Lithuanian National League of America as the third or middle road between the radical socialists and the conservative Catholics. He organized fundraising drives to help Lithuanian war refugees, visited Russia in 1916–1918, and publicized the Lithuanian demands for independence in English-language essays and memorandums (one of them was added to the ''
Congressional Record
The ''Congressional Record'' is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Publishing Office and issued when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record Inde ...
''). In 1919, Šliūpas briefly represented Lithuania in London, at the
Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include:
Listed by name
Paris Accords
may refer to:
* Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...
, and in Latvia.
While Šliūpas was respected for his past contributions to Lithuanian causes, he was not invited to the Lithuanian government or held a more prominent public position. Šliūpas returned to Lithuania in 1920 with substantial savings that he invested in the
Trade and Industry Bank
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
and other business ventures, many established by his son-in-law
Martynas Yčas
Martynas Yčas (December 10, 1917 – April 22, 2014) was a Lithuanian-born microbiologist. He co-authored the book ''Mr. Tompkins: Inside Himself'' with physicist George Gamow.
In 1941 Yčas went to the University of Wisconsin Madison where as a ...
. Most of these investments were lost when the bank failed in 1927. Šliūpas briefly taught hygiene and literature at schools in
Biržai and
Šiauliai as well as
history of medicine at the
University of Lithuania. He also served as a mayor of
Palanga (1933–1935, 1938–1939, 1941), a developing seaside resort, and had to coordinate the response to the great fire in May 1938 that left some 1,500 people homeless. He continued to promote freethinking – chaired
Freethinkers' Society of Ethical Culture
The Freethinkers' Society of Ethical Culture ( lt, Laisvamanių etinės kultūros draugija or LEKD) was a Lithuanian society promoting freethought active from 1923 to 1941. Chaired by Jonas Šliūpas, it promoted non-religious policies in public li ...
, edited reestablished ''Laisvoji mintis'' (1933–1940), lobbied for non-religious cemeteries, schools, marriage and birth registrations, published numerous anti-religious texts. For one such text, he was sued by a priest for slander and received a one-month suspended prison sentence. After the
Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940, Šliūpas was invited to the
People's Government of Lithuania, but refused. He continued to be active in public life until his death. As many other Lithuanians, he fled from the
advancing Red Army in October 1944 and was invited to Berlin to record a radio speech to Lithuanian Americans. He wrote the speech but died suddenly before he could record it.
Biography
Early life and education
Šliūpas was born in a well-off family in near
Gruzdžiai
Gruzdžiai is a small town in Šiauliai County
Šiauliai County ( lt, Šiaulių apskritis) is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the north of the country, and its capital is Šiauliai. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was a ...
on . According to Šliūpas' memoirs, his family told stories about their wealthy ancestors who traced back to the time of Grand Duke
Vytautas (died in 1430). His uncle Aloyzas attended
Kražiai College
The Kražiai College ( lat, Collegium Crozensis) was a Jesuit college (equivalent to a modern secondary school) in Kražiai, Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later Russian Empire. Established in 1616 in hopes to educate new generations of anti-Protest ...
and later became a priest. His father owned 36
dessiatins of land and decided to educated all three sons. In summer 1868, his uncle Aloyzas took Šliūpas to live with him in near
Betygala
Betygala is a small town in Kaunas County in central Lithuania. As of 2011 it had a population of 488. In the 13th and 14th centuries the town had a noted Samogitan fortress, attacked by the Teutonic Knights numerous time. One of the first churches ...
and later in
Pernau. There, Šliūpas studied Russian and Polish languages and witnessed moral degradation of the clergy, even his uncle who lived with his housekeeper in sin and somehow managed to obtain large sums of money. He was beaten for various infractions and after a year and a half begged his parents to take him home. He was taken in by an uncle on his mother's side who educated him to pass the entrance examinations to a gymnasium. In 1871, he failed the Russian language exam at the
Šiauliai Gymnasium
Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County.
Names
Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different la ...
. A year later, he passed the exams at the but was not admitted due to lack of vacancies. While visiting
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 ...
, Šliūpas received
confirmation
In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...
from bishop
Motiejus Valančius.
Finally, Šliūpas was admitted to a preparatory class of the
Mitau Gymnasium
Jelgava Gymnasium or Academia Petrina is the oldest higher educational establishment in Latvia. Based on an idea by , it was established in Mitau, capital of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, by Duke Peter von Biron in 1775. The duke wanted t ...
(present-day Latvia). He exhibited academic aptitude and, after finishing the preparatory class and taking exams, he was admitted to the 2nd class of the gymnasium in 1873 therefore skipping the 1st class. He continued to excel at his studies and received tuition waivers. He received financial support from his uncle and earned additional money by tutoring. For example, he spent the summer 1879 teaching noble children in a manor in
Pandėlys
Pandėlys () is a city in northern Lithuania. It is located some west from Rokiškis, on the road to Biržai. Apaščia River originates near the city and flows through it.
History
The origins of the name are associated with trade. One explanat ...
. Though the gymnasium had only a few Lithuanian students and no Lithuanian societies, Šliūpas began developing his interest in the
Lithuanian language,
history, and
culture. He read historical works by
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, began writing Lithuanian texts (translations of texts by
E. T. A. Hoffmann
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (born Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann; 24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822) was a German Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic and artist. Penrith Goff, "E.T.A. Hoffmann" in E ...
and
Thomas Mayne Reid), subscribed to Lithuanian newspaper ''
Keleivis
''Keleivis iš Karaliaučiaus broliams Lietuvininkams žinias parnešas'' (original spelling: ''Keleiwis isz Karaliaucziaus Broliams Lietuwininkams Žines parnesząs'', ) was a Lithuanian-language weekly periodical published in Königsberg, East ...
'' published in
Königsberg, became a member of the
Lithuanian Literary Society and contributed Lithuanian folktales to its publications. He also read Polish translations of ''History of the Intellectual Development of Europe'' and ''History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science'' by
John William Draper
John William Draper (May 5, 1811 – January 4, 1882) was an English-born American scientist, philosopher, physician, chemist, historian and photographer. He is credited with producing the first clear photograph of a female face (1839–40) and ...
which Šliūpas credited in his memoirs for laying the foundations for his lifelong dedication to
freethought
Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...
. He graduated the gymnasium with top grades in 1880 and continued studies at
Moscow University
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
.
In Moscow, Šliūpas initially studied philology, but after one semester transferred to law. His good grades earned him tuition waivers. He met a small group of Lithuanian students who soon organized a Lithuanian society which published
hectographed irregular Lithuanian newspaper ''Aušra'' (Dawn). In his memoirs, linguist
Jonas Jablonskis claimed that this group inspired him to begin working for the Lithuanian causes. He also became interested in
socialism, establishing contacts with and Count
Vladimir Zubov
Graf Vladimir Zubov ( lt, Vladimiras Zubovas, ; 1862–1933) was a liberal nobleman from the Russian Zubov family who supported the Lithuanian National Revival.
Educated in chemistry and veterinary at the universities of University of Saint Pete ...
. Together with Janavičius, Šliūpas spent summer 1881 visiting various locations across Lithuania collecting funds to support members of revolutionary groups
Narodnaya Volya and
Black Repartition suffering from political repressions. In Moscow, he visited the
Rumyantsev Museum, attended meetings of the
Russian Geographical Society
The Russian Geographical Society (russian: Ру́сское географи́ческое о́бщество «РГО»), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection wi ...
, listened to debates between professors
Dmitry Ilovaysky
Dmitry Ivanovich Ilovaysky (; February 11/23, 1832, Ranenburg - February 15, 1920) was an anti-Normanist conservative Russian historian who penned a number of standard history textbooks.
Ilovaysky graduated from the Moscow University in 1854 and ...
and on the origins of
Slavs
Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
. He corresponded with linguists
Filipp Fortunatov
Filipp Fyodorovich Fortunatov ( rus, Фили́пп Фёдорович Фортуна́тов; – ) was a Russian philologist, Indo-Europeanist and Slavist, best known for establishing the Fortunatov–de Saussure law.
Biography
Fortunatov wa ...
and
Vatroslav Jagić writing to them not in Russian, but in Lithuanian. In summer 1882, Šliūpas visited
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
to investigate the possibility of publishing a Lithuanian-language periodical – the printing of Lithuanian texts in the
Latin alphabet was
banned in the Russian Empire since 1864. He stopped in Kaunas and stayed with priest
Antanas Baranauskas while he copied a manuscript by
Simonas Daukantas on the history of Lithuania which was kept at the library of the
Kaunas Priest Seminary. In Prussia, he met with members of the
Lithuanian Literary Society in Tilsit (now
Sovetsk), Lithuanian publisher
Martynas Jankus
Martynas Jankus or Martin Jankus (7 August 1858 in Bittehnen (Lit.: Bitėnai), near Ragnit – 23 May 1946 in Flensburg, Germany, reburied in Bitėnai cemetery on 30 May 1993) was a Prussian-Lithuanian printer, social activist and publisher in ...
in Ragnit (now
Neman), and editor of ''
Lietuwißka Ceitunga The ''Lietuwißka Ceitunga'' (literally: ''Lithuanian Newspaper'') was an influential Lithuanian-language newspaper published for Prussian Lithuanians, an ethnic minority of East Prussia, a province of the German Empire. It was established in 1877 ...
'' in Memel (now
Klaipėda). Back in Lithuania, Šliūpas stopped in
Žagarė to visit priest Ignotas Vaišvila to collect biographical information about Daukantas who lived with Vaišvila in his last years.
In fall 1882, Šliūpas transferred to
Saint Petersburg Imperial University to study natural science. At the same time, hoping that the new Tsar
Alexander III of Russia would lift the Lithuanian press ban, he prepared a Lithuanian calendar and submitted it to Russian censors. He also sent a petition, dated 7 November 1882, to the
Ministry of Internal Affairs asking to lift the ban. Both requests were denied. He also worked to publish hectographed socialist manifestos and proclamations. His studies were cut short when he was implicated in a student riot, arrested, and imprisoned in the
Kresty Prison for three months. He became ill and the police allowed him to return to his native Rakandžiai. There he wrote a biography of
Simonas Daukantas (published in ''
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 - ...
'') and a socialist work on
social inequality (attempted to publish in Geneva, but unfinished due to lack of funds; a copy was later kept by
Vincas Kapsukas Vincas is a Lithuanian masculine given name.
People named Vincas include:
*Vincas Grybas (1890–1941), Lithuanian sculptor
*Vincas Kudirka (1858-1899), Lithuanian poet and physician, author of the Lithuanian National Anthem
*Vincas Mykolaitis-P ...
). In spring 1883, he was invited by count Nikolay Zubov to teach at his manor in . He applied to different Russian universities in
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
,
Kazan,
Kharkiv,
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
, but was not admitted due to his prior arrest. Faced with
conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
to the
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
, Šliūpas decided to flee abroad.
Editor of ''Aušra''
In fall 1883, Šliūpas decided to leave to
Geneva, Switzerland, which was a refuge for many Russian and Polish socialists. He had promises of financial support from Janavičius and Zubov as well as lofty hopes of establishing a Lithuanian press for socialist publications. He also wanted to finish his studies at the
University of Geneva. Šliūpas established contacts with Polish socialist
Bolesław Limanowski
Bolesław Limanowski (; 18 October 1835 – 15 February 1935) was a Polish socialist politician, as well as historian and journalist and advocate of Agrarianism. He was one of the first people to promote socialist ideas in Poland.
Political act ...
, began publishing his own socialist brochure, and wrote another brochure ''Išganymas vargdienio'' (The Salvation of a Pauper) in which he was the first to raise the idea of independent (not merely autonomous) Lithuania. The brochure was later published in ''Unija'' and as a separate booklet in the United States. Šliūpas did not receive the promised financial support from Lithuania. Searching for means of living, he rejected an invitation to join
Narodnaya Volya and was about to emigrate to
Chile to become a farmer, but received an offer from
Martynas Jankus
Martynas Jankus or Martin Jankus (7 August 1858 in Bittehnen (Lit.: Bitėnai), near Ragnit – 23 May 1946 in Flensburg, Germany, reburied in Bitėnai cemetery on 30 May 1993) was a Prussian-Lithuanian printer, social activist and publisher in ...
to become the editor of ''
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 - ...
'', the first Lithuanian-language newspaper published in Ragnit (now
Neman) in
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
. On his way to
Bitėnai
Bitėnai (german: Bittehnen) is a small village in the Pagėgiai Municipality, in western Lithuania. According to the 2011 census, it had population of 76, a decline from 119 in 2001. It is situated along the Neman River near the Rambynas hill a ...
, Šliūpas met with
Jonas Basanavičius, who previously had editorial control of ''Aušra'' and who at the time lived in
Prague. Basanavičius wanted Šliūpas to send all texts of ''Aušra'' for his final approval, but that was impractical. Basanavičius envisioned ''Aušra'' as a historical and literary periodical which would showcase the greatness of Lithuania's history, raise
Lithuanian national consciousness, and promote education as means to lift oneself from poverty and oppression – i.e. promote
romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...
with careful additions of
freethought
Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...
not to alienate the majority Catholic population. In five months, Šliūpas edited twelve issues of ''Aušra''. He introduced some socialist themes to ''Aušra'' – articles promoting economic development with the ultimate goal of social equality, descriptions of poor conditions of peasants and manor workers, etc. This socialist tinge was enough to alienate the Catholic clergy who started treating ''Aušra'' with suspicion if not outright hostility.
When the Polish newspaper ' criticized ''Aušra'' for its anti-Polish attitudes and separatism, Šliūpas engaged in a debate with its editors regarding the cultural and historical
relationship between Poland and Lithuania. Šliūpas rebuked the criticism but expressed hope for Polish–Lithuanian friendship and cooperation. He published the letters in ''Aušra'' attracting attention from the German police which saw elements of
Pan-Slavism. Suspicions further increased when Šliūpas and Jankus toured Lithuanian villages and called for the establishment of the Lithuanian Scientific Society. Its founding meeting in January 1884 was interrupted by the police. Eventually, Šliūpas was given 30 days (to 15 March 1884) to leave East Prussia. Using Jankus' passport, he returned to Lithuania.
Šliūpas visited Kaunas where he learned that
Pyotr Shchebalsky
Pyotr Karlovich Shchebalsky (russian: link=no, Пётр Карлович Щебальский, 1810 – 20 March 1886) was a Russian literary critic and historian, author of comprehensive studies on the history of Russian literature, later editor ...
, editor of the Russian edition of ', raised the issue of the Lithuanian press in
Congress Poland
Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...
which included Lithuanian-inhabited
Suvalkija
Suvalkija or Sudovia ( lt, Suvalkija or ''Sūduva'') is the smallest of the five cultural regions of Lithuania. Its unofficial capital is Marijampolė. People from Suvalkija (Suvalkijans, Suvalkians) are called (plural) or (singular) in Lithu ...
. Šliūpas wrote a memorandum asking to lift the press ban and discussed it with several other ''Aušra'' collaborators in
Marijampolė. Šliūpas was the only one who dared to sign it and bring it to
Iosif Gurko, the
Governor-General of Warsaw. The memorandum listed all the ways that the Russian Empire would benefit from lifting of the ban – lessening of the Polish influence and mistrust of the Russian government among Lithuanian peasants as well as the gained ability to control and censor legal press (the illegal press included many anti-government articles). The memorandum and by extension Šliūpas were later criticized for its sharp anti-Polish rhetoric. Šliūpas delivered the memorandum to a deputy of Gurko and, to avoid the police, quickly left to Mitau (
Jelgava). There he got engaged to
Liudmila Malinauskaitė, an orphaned daughter of a large landowner who Šliūpas met as a gymnasium student in Mitau. He felt being followed and spied on and tried to sail from Libau (
Liepāja) to Germany, but the police found a missing stamp in his passport. Šliūpas then fled to
Palanga and was smuggled by two fishermen in their boat to East Prussia. He traveled to
Hamburg and on 28 May 1884 sailed to New York.
In United States
Editor of ''Unija'' and ''Lietuviškasis balsas''
Šliūpas arrived to
New York City on 16 June 1884. He did not speak English and tried assorted jobs for a few months until he established contacts with
Lithuanian Americans. He met who owned a small printing shop and was the publisher of the first Lithuanian American newspaper ' in 1879–1880. Together they established the Lithuanian-language weekly newspaper ''Unija'' (Union). Initially, the idea was to publish the newspaper both in Polish and Lithuanian, but they could not get enough Polish subscribers due to Šliūpas' focus on the Lithuanian National Revival. The first issue was published on 25 October 1884. It was a small four-page publication that mainly printed Šliūpas' texts that focused on Lithuania's revival, promoted a union with Latvia, discussed children's education, advanced freethinking and socialist ideas. It also published the first poems by Šliūpas' fiancé who stayed behind in Mitau. At the end of 1884, the newspaper had just 250 subscribers. Šliūpas lived together with Tvarauskas in the same room as the printing press – the conditions were very poor and cramped. At the same time, Šliūpas joined the Mutual Aid Society of
Saint Casimir at the Polish
St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Church and started working on organizing a separate Lithuanian parish to combat
Polonization via churches. In April 1885, a Polish committee invited Lithuanians to participate in a parade and fundraising celebrating the
Constitution of 3 May 1791. Šliūpas responded in ''Unija'' calling Lithuanians to reject the invitation as it was a Polish, not a Lithuanian celebration. This elicited protests from Polish groups as well as from within the Mutual Aid Society of Saint Casimir and, on 27 April, Tvarauskas fired Šliūpas leaving him with no money or a place to stay.
Šliūpas elicited help from other Lithuanian Americans who donated 250 dollars () so that he could purchase a pedal-powered printing press and establish his own weekly newspaper ''
Lietuviškasis balsas
''Lietuviškasis balsas'' (original spelling: ''Lietuwiszkasis Bałsas''; literally: The Lithuanian Voice) was a Lithuanian-language newspaper published by Jonas Šliūpas from July 1885 to February 1889 in New York City and Shenandoah, Pennsylva ...
'' (The Lithuanian Voice). At the same time he established the Friends of Lithuania Society ( lt, Lietuvos mylėtojų draugija) to publish the newspaper and other Lithuanian publications. The first issue of the newspaper appeared on 2 July 1885. It printed mostly long abstract and theoretical articles that were difficult to understand for the poorly educated Lithuanian immigrants. Additionally, Šliūpas'
Samogitian dialect was difficult to understand for Lithuanians that mainly hailed from the
Suvalkija
Suvalkija or Sudovia ( lt, Suvalkija or ''Sūduva'') is the smallest of the five cultural regions of Lithuania. Its unofficial capital is Marijampolė. People from Suvalkija (Suvalkijans, Suvalkians) are called (plural) or (singular) in Lithu ...
region. Šliūpas was the only one working on the publication all the while severe financial difficulties often forced him to take random side jobs. Therefore, the newspaper was printed irregularly – out of 26 issues that were supposed to be printed in 1885 only 13 were actually published.
Despite the difficulties, Šliūpas continued to organize a separate Lithuanian parish and invited priest Antanas Varnagiris from
Independence, Wisconsin, who arrived in June 1885. They managed to get a confirmation from the
Archbishop of New York that Varnagiris would be separated from Polish priests, but due to disagreements Šliūpas withdrew from the parish. Šliūpas wanted to keep parishes independent afraid that American bishops could easily close or transfer Lithuanian churches. Varnagiris preached to Lithuanians in a Polish church until early 1886 when he moved to a Polish–Lithuanian parish in
Freeland, Pennsylvania. Šliūpas also participated in many Lithuanian events, delivering lively speeches and lectures which became more popular than his newspaper. He brought his fiancé Malinauskaitė to New York and they married on 30 September 1885 both in a civil and religious ceremonies (held at the
Capuchin Church of St. John the Baptist). They moved to a
tenement apartment in
Maspeth, Queens and she got a job at a Lithuanian-owned sewing workshop.
Fight with ''Vienybė lietuvninkų''
In February 1886, two Lithuanian businessmen in
Plymouth, Pennsylvania started publishing ''
Vienybė lietuvninkų
''Vienybė lietuvninkų'' (literally: Lithuanian Unity) was a Lithuanian-language weekly newspapers published in the United States from February 1886 to January 1921. Established by two Lithuanian American businessmen in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, ...
'' which advocated Catholic ideas and unity among Polish and Lithuanian immigrants in the historic tradition of the old
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in response to anti-clergy and anti-Polish ''Lietuviškasis balsas''. From the first issues, the two newspapers exchanged increasingly bitter and nasty rhetoric and accusations of destroying Lithuanian unity. Šliūpas and 11 delegates of other Lithuanian societies established the Alliance of All Lithuanians in America ( lt, Susivienijimas visų lietuvninkų Amerikoje) on 15 August 1886 in
Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, with a goal to unite all Lithuanians under an
umbrella organization. The Catholic camp responded by organizing the Alliance of All Lithuanian Catholic Societies of America () on 22 November 1886 in Plymouth. Šliūpas' organization disbanded in 1888 due to lack of members while the Catholic alliance, renamed and reorganized several times, continues to this day as the .
In 1887, faced with constant criticism and attacks, Šliūpas published a Polish-language brochure ''Litwini i Polacy'' (Lithuanians and Poles) to explain his ideology on the Polish–Lithuanian question. In this work, he cited the
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
slogan "
Proletarians of all countries, unite!" but did not adopt the concept of
class struggle
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 ...
. Loosely interpreting the history of Lithuania, he denounced the exploitation of the Lithuanian people by
Polish nobility
The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...
and Catholic clergy concluding that Lithuania wants to be politically independent. He also translated and published ''Patkulis'', a historical-political drama by the German writer
Karl Gutzkow about
Johann Patkul, a
Livonian nobleman and an instigator of the
Great Northern War (1700–1721), who was portrayed as a Latvian fighting for his nation's freedom. He further published a history of Lithuania written by
Konstancja Skirmuntt and translated by
Petras Vileišis.
Competing with ''
Vienybė lietuvninkų
''Vienybė lietuvninkų'' (literally: Lithuanian Unity) was a Lithuanian-language weekly newspapers published in the United States from February 1886 to January 1921. Established by two Lithuanian American businessmen in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, ...
'' for subscribers and advertisers, ''Lietuviškasis balsas'' struggled and appeared irregularly. Hoping to increase the readership, Šliūpas moved from New York to
Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, where many Lithuanian immigrants worked in local coal mines, in early 1888. In Shenandoah, Šliūpas established weekend education courses for adults and agitated locals to invite priest , former collaborator in ''Aušra'', to establish the Lithuanian parish of St. Casimir. Burba arrived to Plymouth in August 1889 and became a friend and collaborator with Šliūpas. Šliūpas' publicist work could not support a family of four (daughter born in July 1886 and son born in March 1888). Therefore, in early 1889, he decided to study medicine at the
University of Maryland School of Medicine in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
. As a student, Šliūpas struggled financially, earning some money by selling cigars and getting some aid from Burba, but did not abandon public life.
Founder of the Lithuanian Scientific Society
On 22 December 1889, Šliūpas established the
Lithuanian Scientific Society
The Lithuanian Scientific Society ( lt, Lietuvių mokslo draugija) was a scientific, cultural, and educational organization that was active between 1907 and 1940 in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was founded in 1907 on the initiative of Jonas Basanavič ...
() in Baltimore and became its chairman. The primary goal of the society was to publish Lithuanian texts and otherwise promote education among Lithuanians. Its first publication was Šliūpas' work on Lithuanian-language texts from the 16th century to present published in 1890 in Tilsit, East Prussia. It contained mostly patriotic and nationalistic excerpts from older texts with essays by Šliūpas on the current situation of and future hopes for the Lithuanian National Revival, and thus were more a like a
chrestomathy than a proper history of Lithuanian literature. In 1891, together with Burba, Šliūpas published ''Bestiality of the Russian Czardom toward Lithuania'', the second English-language publication by the Lithuanian immigrant community. Šliūpas also delivered speeches and lectures on various topics from
Darwinism
Darwinism is a scientific theory, theory of Biology, biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of smal ...
and religion to socialism. In winter 1889–1890, he delivered about 30 such speeches. One of the lectures on Lithuania's past, present, and future was developed and published as a separate brochure in 1897. In March 1892, the Scientific Society began publishing monthly magazine ''Apšvieta'' (Enlightenment). It was the first Lithuanian magazine devoted solely to culture and education. In total, 15 issues were published in Tilsit,
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
. Edited by Šliūpas, the magazine could not avoid his anti-religious and pro-socialist views.
Šliūpas became a naturalized citizen of the United States on 3 June 1890. He graduated with a medical degree in March 1891. He further graduated from the
New York Post-Graduate Medical School in April 1901. He opened a private medical practice in
Wilkes-Barre but quickly returned to Baltimore and moved to
Shenandoah in spring 1892. In 1892, , a former participant in the
Uprising of 1863, moved in with Šliūpas. Around the same time, Dembskis quit priesthood and became a close collaborator with Šliūpas. Dembskis lived with Šliūpas until his death in 1913. On
Easter in 1891, brokered by Burba, Šliūpas publicly made peace with Juozas Paukštys and , the publisher and editor of ''Vienybė lietuvninkų'' respectively – the three men went for a
confession and
communion in
Pittston, Pennsylvania. Šliūpas even contributed articles to ''Vienybė lietuvninkų'' and attended a congress of the Alliance of All Lithuanian Catholic Societies of America, chaired by Burba, in November 1891, while Burba established a local chapter of the Lithuanian Scientific Society in Plymouth in February 1891. However, the collaboration with Burba broke down in 1892. Šlūpas felt so insulted by ''Trumpa peržvalga lietuvystės darbų Amerikoje'' (A Short Review of Lithuanian Activities in America), a booklet that Burba published in 1892, that he sued Burba in court.
Socialist activist
Perhaps due to the falling out with Burba, Šliūpas anti-religious and pro-socialist views grew stronger and louder. In 1893, he anonymously published an 18-page brochure translated from German ''Die Gottespest'' by the anarchist
Johann Most which vulgarly attacked the Church. On 28 January 1894, in response to the
Kražiai massacre in Lithuania, Šliūpas and Dembskis organized a protest in Shenandoah during which they publicly denounced not only the
Russian Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
but also the pope. This caused an uproar among other Lithuanian organizations. Protesting against pope's silence on the massacre, Šliūpas officially left the Catholic Church and joined the
Presbyterian Church
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
. The religious tensions only grew when Matas Andriukaitis, a Lithuanian, accidentally shot himself with Šliūpas' gun on
Maundy Thursday (22 March 1894). The funeral procession was followed by insulting and mocking booing and shouting. Šliūpas then submitted a formal complaint to the city's officials against six most active protesters. The complaint was rejected and the six people sued Šliūpas for defamation in
Pottsville, Pennsylvania. The trial continued for 24 days and involved numerous witnesses, including 13 priests. When testifying, Šliūpas refused to swear on the Bible. Eventually, Šliūpas was found not guilty but the tensions forced him to relocate to
Scranton, Pennsylvania. There, he settled in a Jewish neighborhood and primarily served workers of the
Dickson Manufacturing Company
Dickson Manufacturing Company was an American manufacturer of boilers, blast furnaces and steam engines used in various industries but most known in railway steam locomotives. The company also designed and constructed steam powered mine cable ...
.
In January 1894, he began publishing the socialist weekly magazine ''Nauja gadynė'' (The New Era). It was first published in
Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, before being moved to Shenandoah in fall 1894 and to Scranton in August 1895 where it was published in Šliūpas' basement. It had only one official editor (Šliūpas' co-brother-in-law) and was published by the Lithuanian Scientific Society. ''Nauja gadynė'' marked a transition for Šliūpas' works from predominantly focused on Lithuanian nationalism with some socialist topics and ideas to predominantly focused on socialism and
proletarian internationalism. He wrote about the bright future promised by socialism, strikes and disturbances caused by socialists and anarchists around the world, biographies of prominent socialist leaders, etc. He did not fully embrace the internationalism, retaining the concept of nations. The last issue appeared on 2 June 1896.
In 1895, Šliūpas published ''Tikyba ir mokslas'' (Science and Religion) – a collection of 15 mostly translated articles that he was working on since around 1885 – that argued that
Christianity and science
Most sources of knowledge available to early Christians were connected to pagan world-views. There were various opinions on how Christianity should regard pagan learning, which included its ideas about nature. For instance, among early Christia ...
were fundamentally incompatible. The book included a
scientific biography of Jesus as well as articles describing the vulgar and dark
Middle Ages, praising the ideas of equality (''
Liberté, égalité, fraternité'') of the
French Revolution, and expressing optimism that scientific advances would usher an era of universal prosperity. In 1902, Šliūpas published ''Spėka ir medega'', a translation of ''Force and Matter'' by
Ludwig Büchner – a
scientific materialism work that Šliūpas was interested in since his studies in Moscow in 1881 and that he already discussed in a series of articles published in ''Apšvieta'' in 1892. This translation presented a particular challenge as the Lithuanian language lacked words to describe the abstract forces and ideas. Šliūpas spent a considerable effort to come up with Lithuanian neologisms instead of borrowing words from other languages.
Šliūpas established contacts with the founders of the
Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (established in 1896) and discussed the possibility of representing Lithuania at the
International Socialist Workers and Trade Union Congress in London. In response to the
Lattimer massacre, when police shot and killed several protesting mine workers including five Lithuanians in September 1897, Šliūpas organized a protest meeting in Scranton. His suggestion for a socialist group was met with enthusiasm and about 70 people signed up. Though the membership quickly declined to about 30 people, it was the first Lithuanian socialist group. Other groups were soon organized in other Lithuanian communities and the idea of a unifying Lithuanian socialist organization was raised in 1899. Šliūpas organized local socialist groups, delivered speeches and lectures, discussed the need for a centralized organization, and even planned to attend the
International Socialist Congress in 1904. He was a leader of Lithuanian miners during the
Coal strike of 1902. Šliūpas unsuccessfully ran in the
Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district twice for the
United States House of Representatives, as a candidate of the
Populist Party in 1896 and as a candidate of the
Socialist Labor Party in 1900. It seems that around the same time he attempted to expand outside the Lithuanian circles: he became an associate of
Franciszek Hodur, founder of the
Polish National Catholic Church
The Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) is an independent Old Catholic church based in the United States and founded by Polish-Americans.
The PNCC is not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.http://www.saplv.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/ ...
, and published articles in Polish press calling for a unity among all nations oppressed by the Russians.
But he did not entirely abandon Lithuanian nationalist causes. In 1897, he translated and published a work by
Edmund Veckenstedt Edmund Veckenstedt (1840–1903) was an educator, ethnologist and folklorist who published many works, sometimes under the pseudonym Heinrich Veltheim.
Albert Edmund Veckenstedt was born in Vehlitz, near Magdeburg, on 7 January 1840. His early car ...
on
Samogitian myths. He published a 278-page work on the origins of Lithuanians (he followed the discredited theories of
Jonas Basanavičius that Lithuanians hailed from the
Balkans or
Anatolia) in 1899 and the first two volumes of his three-volume history of Lithuania in 1904–1905. He organized the Martyrs' Committee, which raised funds for the support of Lithuanians imprisoned or
exiled to Siberia due to their political or cultural work, in 1900 and became treasurer of the Union of Lithuanian Freethinkers in America () in 1901.
The was established only in May 1905 after the start of the
revolution in Russia
''La révolution en Russie'', also known as ''Les événements d'Odessa'' and ''La révolte du cuirassée Potemkine'' is a 1905 French silent short film directed by Lucien Nonguet, and distributed in English-speaking countries under the titles ...
. Šliūpas was elected its treasurer but withdrew within five months due to disagreements on how to distribute funds raised for the support of the revolution and Lithuanians. He wanted to send funds to Draugas (established by
Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas),
Social Democratic Party of Lithuania,
Lithuanian Democratic Party, and individuals persecuted by the Tsarist regime. Others argued that the funds should sent just to the Social Democratic Party. Šliūpas withdrew from the party and more active socialist work, though he continued to support socialist ideas.
Nationalist and freethinker
In 1905, Šliūpas became treasurer of the Aušra Society, established in Chicago in 1901. He continued to be its treasurer until it dissolved in 1912. During that time, the society provided financial aid of $4,273.80 () to Lithuanian students (20 men and 7 women) studying at various universities. Lithuanians wanted to organize a protest march in support of the Russian Revolution, but Šliūpas proposed a multipartisan congress (perhaps inspired by the
Great Seimas of Vilnius). 169 Lithuanian activists, including 50 socialists, gathered in Philadelphia in February 1906. Šliūpas wrote a long resolution which was accepted by the delegates but protested by the socialists. It called the Russian Empire to adopt a constitution that would guarantee some of the
fundamental rights, grant political autonomy to Lithuania which would be united with Latvia, implement a land reform that would distribute land of manors and monasteries to landless peasants, grant amnesty to political prisoners. At the end of 1906, Šliūpas delivered several speeches in Lithuanian immigrant communities and published the speech in a separate brochure in which he returned to Lithuanian national issues – union with Poland and abuses of the Catholic clergy. However, Šliūpas did not join the – it appears he first participated in its 25th anniversary congress in 1910 when he delivered a speech reviewing Lithuanian activities in the United States over the last 25 years. Šliūpas also returned to the criticism of the Catholic Church with the publication of ''Tikri ir netikri šventieji'' (True and Fake Saints) in 1907. The work critically examined the lives of Catholic martyrs
Stanislaus of Szczepanów and
Hermenegild and contrasted them with four biographies of "martyrs of science" (
Hypatia,
Michael Servetus,
Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno (; ; la, Iordanus Brunus Nolanus; born Filippo Bruno, January or February 1548 – 17 February 1600) was an Italian philosopher, mathematician, poet, cosmological theorist, and Hermetic occultist. He is known for his cosmologic ...
, and
Kazimierz Łyszczyński).
In 1909, Šliūpas published the last third volume of the history of Lithuania that covered the period from the
Union of Lublin (1569) to the
Third Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Po ...
(1795). In January 1910, he began publishing the monthly magazine ''Laisvoji mintis'' (Free Thought) with the help of two new Lithuanian immigrants with prior experience in publishing periodicals in Scranton – Karolis Račkauskas (pen name Vairas) and Kleopas Jurgelionis (pen name Kalėdų Kaukės). The magazine promoted the ideas of
freethought
Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...
and was primarily devoted to science. It published many articles on
natural sciences, many of them translated (e.g. ''A Picture Book of Evolution'' by
Dennis Hird or on popular astronomy by
Garrett P. Serviss). Šliūpas contributed biographical articles (e.g. on
Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno (; ; la, Iordanus Brunus Nolanus; born Filippo Bruno, January or February 1548 – 17 February 1600) was an Italian philosopher, mathematician, poet, cosmological theorist, and Hermetic occultist. He is known for his cosmologic ...
,
Lucilio Vanini
Lucilio Vanini (15859 February 1619), who, in his works, styled himself Giulio Cesare Vanini, was an Italian philosopher, physician and free-thinker, who was one of the first significant representatives of intellectual libertinism. He was amon ...
,
Jan Hus,
Francisco Ferrer) and articles on the 19th-century history of Lithuania (written as a continuation to his three-volume history of Lithuania). The magazine was discontinued after 60 issues in May 1915. Šliūpas resigned as editor in December 1914 citing his age and poor eyesight. Privately, he mentioned to Račkauskas that he spent more than $5,000 () of his own money on the magazine.
Šliūpas supported two Lithuanian fundraising drives. In 1911, priests
Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas and
Konstantinas Olšauskas collected donations for the headquarters of the
Saulė Society
Saulė ( lt, Saulė, lv, Saule) is a solar goddess, the common Baltic solar deity in the Lithuanian and Latvian mythologies. The noun ''Saulė''/''Saule'' in the Lithuanian and Latvian languages is also the conventional name for the Sun and or ...
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 ...
. Tumas-Vaižgantas famously said to Šliūpas, "Jonas, I love you, but I burn your writings." In 1913,
Jonas Basanavičius and
Martynas Yčas
Martynas Yčas (December 10, 1917 – April 22, 2014) was a Lithuanian-born microbiologist. He co-authored the book ''Mr. Tompkins: Inside Himself'' with physicist George Gamow.
In 1941 Yčas went to the University of Wisconsin Madison where as a ...
collected funds for the construction of the headquarters of the
Lithuanian Scientific Society
The Lithuanian Scientific Society ( lt, Lietuvių mokslo draugija) was a scientific, cultural, and educational organization that was active between 1907 and 1940 in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was founded in 1907 on the initiative of Jonas Basanavič ...
in
Vilnius. Yčas later married Šliūpas' youngest daughter Hypatija.
During World War I
The outbreak of
World War I galvanized Lithuanian Americans to organize support for the war refugees and start thinking about the future of Lithuania after the war. Šliūpas tried to organize a multipartisan congress (similar to the 1906 congress in Philadelphia), but Catholic activists organized their own congress in Chicago in September 1914. Šliūpas then organized a congress of nationalists and socialists in New York in October. The socialists were better organized and wanted to take full control of the congress and the nationalists withdrew in protest. They gathered separately in Brooklyn and decided to establish their own organization, the Lithuanian National League of America (), as well as two foundations (chaired by Šliūpas) to provide financial aid to war refugees in Lithuania. Thus, the third "middle" group of Lithuanian activists emerged. Šliūpas began agitating for Lithuania, visiting Lithuanian communities in
New England and publishing ''Lithuania in Retrospect and Prospect'', a short English-language overview of the history of Lithuania. The two foundations raised approximately $97,000 ().
In June 1915,
Stasys Šimkus arrived to United States to collect donation for the
Lithuanian Society for the Relief of War Sufferers
The Lithuanian Society for the Relief of War Sufferers ( lt, Lietuvių draugija nukentėjusiems dėl karo šelpti) was a Lithuanian charity organization that was active from 1914 to 1918. It was founded by various Lithuanian political figures as ...
. He tried to work with all three (Catholic, socialist, and nationalist) factions, but ended up touring Lithuanian communities with the help of the Lithuanian National League of America and Šliūpas. Up to February 1916, he collected $9,361.51 ().
Antanas Milukas
Antanas Milukas (13 June 1871 – 19 March 1943) was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic priest, book publisher, and newspaper editor working among the Lithuanian Americans.
As a student at the Sejny Priest Seminary, he was involved in the publication a ...
and other Lithuanians petitioned President
Woodrow Wilson to proclaim the Lithuanian Day when all across United States donations would be collected for the benefit of Lithuanian war refugees. On 1 November 1916, Lithuanians collected $176,863 (). The funds were collected and distributed by a 12-member committee, six Catholics and six (including Šliūpas) nationalists.
The foundation of the Lithuanian National League of America delegated Šliūpas to visit Russia. He departed from
San Francisco to
Honolulu on 26 April 1916 (crossing the Atlantic Ocean was unsafe due to the
U-boat Campaign). He was accompanied by his eldest daughter Aldona who volunteered for the
Red Cross. Šliūpas visited Lithuanian refugees and evacuees in
Moscow,
Saint Petersburg,
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, and elsewhere to find out what support Lithuanian Americans could provide. At the same time, he tried to gather support for a Lithuania–Latvia union. He stopped in
Voronezh for a longer time, visiting his son-in-law
Martynas Yčas
Martynas Yčas (December 10, 1917 – April 22, 2014) was a Lithuanian-born microbiologist. He co-authored the book ''Mr. Tompkins: Inside Himself'' with physicist George Gamow.
In 1941 Yčas went to the University of Wisconsin Madison where as a ...
. Šliūpas could not visit the
German-occupied Lithuania
The military occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany lasted from the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 to the end of the Battle of Memel on January 28, 1945. At first the Germans were widely welcomed as liberators from the re ...
and instead traveled to Stockholm to attend the
Lithuanian conference in October 1917 which approved the resolutions adopted by
Vilnius Conference and recognized the
Council of Lithuania
The Council of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Taryba, german: Litauischer Staatsrat, pl, Rada Litewska), after July 11, 1918 the State Council of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Valstybės Taryba) was convened at the Vilnius Conference that took place betwe ...
as the main political representative of the Lithuanian nation. Šliūpas was the only representative of Lithuanian Americans in attendance.
Šliūpas remained in Stockholm until May 1918. During that time he published two political booklets, Lithuanian ''Lietuvių-latvių respublika ir Šiaurės Tautų Sąjunga'' (Lithuanian–Latvian Republic and the Union of Nordic Nations) and English ''Essay on the Past, Present, and Future of Lithuania''. He sent memorandums to President
Woodrow Wilson about the need to support independence movements of the various nations in the Russian Empire and to British officials urging to recognize
Lithuania's independence. Šliūpas also attended the third Lithuanian conference in Stockholm in January 1918. The conference adopted a seven-point demand list to Russia and Germany to recognize independent Lithuania, repay war damages, withdraw their armies, include Lithuanian representatives in any peace negotiations – the full text of the resolution was reprinted in ''Essay on the Past, Present, and Future of Lithuania''.
Šliūpas returned to United States in May 1918 and became vice-chairman of the Lithuanian Executive Committee organized by a joint Catholic and nationalist conference in New York in March 1918 and chaired by . The primary goal of the Executive Committee was to inform the American public about Lithuania and to lobby American politicians to support Lithuania's independence. Šliūpas also joined the
Mid-European Union The Mid-European Union was a post- World War I political association established in the United States of America on 16 September 1918 "to negotiate territorial disputes between the emerging nations" of Central Europe "and to work towards some form ...
established by the Czechoslovak politician
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. There, he clashed with
Roman Dmowski and
Ignacy Jan Paderewski (future
Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Poland
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
) over theirs plans for a Polish–Lithuanian state. When
Henry Cabot Lodge, the new
Senate Majority Leader, delivered a speech in which he urged to preserve the territorial integrity of Russia, Šliūpas wrote a memorandum demanding independence for Lithuania and managed to get it published in the ''
Congressional Record
The ''Congressional Record'' is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Publishing Office and issued when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record Inde ...
'' on 29 August 1918. Šliūpas also contacted
Robert Lansing, the Secretary of State,
Frank A. Golder Frank Alfred Golder (August 11, 1877 – January 7, 1929) was an American historian and archivist specializing in the history of Russia. Golder is best remembered for his work in the early 1920s building the seminal collection of Slavic language mat ...
, a member of
The Inquiry preparing for a post-war peace conference,
Theodore Roosevelt, the former president.
In independent Lithuania
Diplomat and businessman
According to Šliūpas memoirs, professor
James Young Simpson invited him to the United Kingdom on behalf of the
Foreign Office
Foreign may refer to:
Government
* Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries
** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government
** Foreign office and foreign minister
* Unit ...
. He arrived to London on 4 February 1919. He delivered speeches on Lithuania's independence to the
Union of Democratic Control as well as Lithuanian immigrant communities in London,
Glasgow,
Burnbank,
Edinburgh,
Liverpool,
Manchester. He also held talks with Latvian activists promoting his ideas of a Lithuanian–Latvia union. When Lithuania sent its official representative in mid-April 1919, Šliūpas departed to the
Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include:
Listed by name
Paris Accords
may refer to:
* Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...
on 22 May. Together with his son-in-law Yčas, Šliūpas worked to purchase $5 million () worth of various military goods from the U.S. Liquidation Commission (instead of transporting various supplies back to United States, the
U.S. Army sold surplus goods to other governments and businesses). Šliūpas personally supervised the purchase of medical supplies worth about $500,000 in
Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany.
The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...
and accompanied their delivery to Lithuania. It was the first time that Šliūpas returned to Lithuania since 1883. But he did not stay there for long as he was sent as the first Lithuanian diplomatic representative to Latvia in August 1919. With
military attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...
, he also represented Lithuania to Estonia. There is little information available on his activities in Latvia. At the time, Latvia was fighting the
West Russian Volunteer Army but Lithuania refused to provide aid and Lithuania avoided establishing diplomatic contacts with the
Soviet Russia due to its international isolation – positions that Šliūpas appears to have disagreed with. He also did not get along with
Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics, Latvian Foreign Minister. He resigned in December 1919 and returned to Lithuania.
Šliūpas returned to Lithuania with a capital of $38,000 () that he invested in various Lithuanian enterprises, many of them established or chaired by his son-in-law Martynas Yčas. In February 1919, the first Lithuanian Shipping Company (), later known as the Lithuanian Steamship Corporation (), was organized to provide passenger and cargo transportation via the
Neman and other rivers in Lithuania. Šliūpas returned to United States to organize his affairs for the permanent move to Lithuania and at the same time sold about $50,000 worth of shares of the company to Lithuanian Americans. He also invested in the
Trade and Industry Bank
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
, oil pressing company Ringuva, brewery
Gubernija, metalworking factory Nemunas, Montvila spirits factory, and others. He founded Žuvis ir gintaras (Fish and Amber) company in
Palanga and invested 25,000
litas
The Lithuanian litas (ISO currency code LTL, symbolized as Lt; plural ''litai'' (nominative) or ''litų'' (genitive) was the currency of Lithuania, until 1 January 2015, when it was replaced by the euro. It was divided into 100 centų (genit ...
.
In 1922–1923, Šliūpas split his time between
Biržai and
Šiauliai where he headed local branches of the Trade and Industry Bank. As a banker, he organized completion of the
narrow-gauge railway
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard-gauge railway, standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum r ...
that connected Biržai to Šiauliai. In Biržai, he renewed and renovated the printing press that was established by Yčas and
Povilas Jakubėnas
Povilas Jakubėnas (April 11, 1871 – May 30, 1953) was a Lithuanian Calvinist clergyman, general superintendent of the Lithuanian branch of the Reformed Church during the interbellum, professor of theology, Lithuanian book smuggler (''knyg ...
in 1911–1912 and established a successful trading company Agaras. He also tried to organize a spa around mineral water springs in near Biržai. In 1923, he invested 70,000 litas and established Titnagas printing press in Šiauliai. Šliūpas invited German specialists and the press was known for its quality. Among other things, Titnagas printed 17 books by Šliūpas and about 150 books by book publishing company Kultūra that Šliūpas supported financially. Many of his investments were lost when the Trade and Industry Bank failed in 1927. Šliūpas had guaranteed many loans of the bank, Yčas, and other companies. He was sued by the
Bank of Lithuania
The Bank of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos bankas) is the central bank of the Republic of Lithuania. The Bank of Lithuania is a member of the European System of Central Banks. The chairman of the bank is Gediminas Šimkus. Until 2015, the Bank of Li ...
for a guarantee of 25,000 litas loan taken by the Trade and Industry Bank. The
Lithuanian Tribunal ordered Šliūpas to pay the loan, 6% annual interest, and court costs in 1933. Unable to pay, he appealed to President
Antanas Smetona. Eventually, Bank of Lithuania seized Titnagas to cover the debts.
Educator and mayor
In 1922–1923, Šliūpas taught hygiene and world literature at the and Lithuanian and English literature at the
Šiauliai Gymnasium
Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County.
Names
Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different la ...
. As an educator, he organized public lectures and attended local meetings of the
Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Church The Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania or latin: "Unitas Lithuaniae"; polish: "Jednota Litewska" ( lt, Lietuvos evangelikų reformatų bažnyčia) is a Calvinist denomination in Lithuania which uses presbyterian polity.
History
The church w ...
. In early 1924, Šliūpas had a stomach operation in
Königsberg. Upon his return, chaplain of the Šiauliai Gymnasium complained that Šliūpas' lessons included anti-religious themes to the Minister of Education
Leonas Bistras. Šliūpas was asked to refrain from anti-religious comments, but he resigned and moved to
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 February 1923, he received
honorary doctorates in medicine and history from the
University of Lithuania; he received the third honorary doctorate in law in 1939. From fall 1924, Šliūpas became a
privatdozent
''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...
and taught
history of medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lithuania. It was an elective class and not every semester there were enough students to hold it. He resigned after four years and received a government pension. He published his lessons on hygiene and history of medicine as separate books in 1928 and 1934.
The failure of the Trade and Industry Bank brought financial difficulties, while the death of his wife (4 April 1928) brought a personal loss. He married Grasilda Grauslytė, a sister of his maid and 38 years his junior, in September 1929. His three children strongly disapproved the marriage and the couple moved to his new wife's hometown
Palanga where their son Vytautas was born in 1930. Palanga was transforming from a fishermen village to a popular seaside resort and Šliūpas worked to obtain city rights. In January 1933, he became the first mayor of Palanga. In summer 1933, he hosted the official visit of
Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the
scout movement. He worked on lowering electricity prices, ensuring street cleanliness, improving transportation (e.g. asking city residents not to use sidewalks to ride bikes or herd cattle), etc. In early 1935, he was replaced by Pranas Kraujelis who was removed in December 1936 for mishandling 30,098
litas
The Lithuanian litas (ISO currency code LTL, symbolized as Lt; plural ''litai'' (nominative) or ''litų'' (genitive) was the currency of Lithuania, until 1 January 2015, when it was replaced by the euro. It was divided into 100 centų (genit ...
of city's funds. From that time until Šliūpas returned as mayor in March 1938, Palanga had only an acting mayor. On 10 May 1938, Palanga suffered a major fire – about 120 residential buildings burned down leaving 1,500 people homeless. Šliūpas had to organize aid, construct shelters, and rebuilt the city with larger more modern buildings. Šliūpas resigned as mayor on 1 July 1939 due to old age and the fact that he, as a recipient of a state pension, could not receive any government wages. About half of the people affected by the fire were Jews who organized a separate relief effort clashing with Lithuanians over the funds. The experience prompted Šliūpas to study
Talmud and write an
anti-Semitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
work.
Freethinker and writer
Šliūpas established the first chapters of the
Freethinkers' Society of Ethical Culture
The Freethinkers' Society of Ethical Culture ( lt, Laisvamanių etinės kultūros draugija or LEKD) was a Lithuanian society promoting freethought active from 1923 to 1941. Chaired by Jonas Šliūpas, it promoted non-religious policies in public li ...
(), a society to promote freethought in Lithuania, in
Biržai and
Šiauliai in 1922 and 1924. Šliūpas became editor of the reestablished ''Laisvoji mintis'' (Free Thought) in November 1933 and continued to edit it up until the
Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940. The magazine focused on humanities, particularly history, and balanced academic articles with agitation. Šliūpas also promoted freethought policies in daily life. He campaigned for non-religious cemeteries,
civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths, non-religious schools. When the new communist regime established civil birth registration in 1940, Šliūpas' son Vytautas was the first to be registered in Palanga.
Šliūpas was an outspoken critic of the authoritarian regime of President
Antanas Smetona. Already in February 1927, he published an article in ''
Lietuvos žinios'' in which he called Smetona a hot-head and power-hungry. On 23 November 1935, during a military celebration at the
Vytautas the Great War Museum which was broadcast live over the radio, Šliūpas delivered a critical speech with the president and other politicians of the
Lithuanian Nationalist Union
The Lithuanian Nationalist Union ( lt, Lietuvių tautininkų sąjunga or LTS), also known as the Nationalists (), was the ruling political party in Lithuania during the authoritarian regime of President Antanas Smetona from 1926 to 1940. The part ...
in attendance. In April 1939, he wrote a letter to the government of Prime Minister
Jonas Černius, which he managed to get published only in ''Naujoji gadynė'' in United States in September. The letter urged democratic reforms and called Smetona's regime "stifling oligarchy after a fascist example." Nevertheless, his 75th birthday in March 1936 was marked with an official ceremony at the
Kaunas State Theatre
The National Kaunas Drama Theatre (NKDT), formerly Kaunas State Drama Theatre, is a theatre and theatre company in Kaunas, Lithuania. The company is the oldest professional theatre troupe in Lithuania, founded in 1920 at the building now know ...
– many officials, including rector of the
Vytautas Magnus University, Minister of Education, Minister of Defense, gave speeches celebrating Šliūpas' life and accomplishments. Šliūpas was also awarded the
Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (2nd class in 1928, 1st class in 1936). He also received the Latvian
Order of the Three Stars (2nd class) in 1932.
Šliūpas continued to write and publish various works. In 1928, ''
Lietuvos aidas'' published his long essay, which he called his political testament, on the perfect state and government that would eliminate
social inequality. In 1929, he wrote and published a historical work on the
Reformation in Lithuania and the
Radziwiłł family. In 1930, he republished his ''Tikri ir netikri šventieji''. In the foreword, he explained that the second edition was prompted by the scandal of
Konstantinas Olšauskas, a Catholic priest who was accused of murdering his suspected lover, and attacked the Catholic Church. A priest sued Šliūpas for slander and he received a one-month
suspended prison sentence
A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...
. Šliūpas appealed to the
Lithuanian Tribunal, but the sentence was upheld. In 1932, he wrote a work on the
Baltic mythology in which he still relied on already outdated and discredited theories and authors, such as the Thracian origin theory of
Jonas Basanavičius or the dubious mythology of
Theodor Narbutt. A year later he published a review of the Catholic Church activities in independent Lithuania since 1919. He also published translated works of freethinkers, including ''A History of Freedom of Thought'' by
J. B. Bury (in 1923), ''Comparative Religion'' by
Joseph Estlin Carpenter (1926), two works by
Joseph McCabe that argued against the notion that the Church preserved and built the
Western civilization (both in 1937), a work by
Robert G. Ingersoll (1937), ''The Evolution of the Idea of God'' by
Grant Allen (1938).
World War II and death
As a birthday gift, he received tickets to United States and traveled there in summer 1936. Together with his wife and son, he sailed from
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
to New York aboard
SS ''Drottningholm'' on 2 May 1936. In United States, Šliūpas delivered speeches and lectures in twenty different communities of Lithuanian Americans, including
Pittsburgh,
Detroit,
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
,
Chicago. He also attended the 25th anniversary celebration of the
Lithuanian National Cemetery
The Lithuanian National Cemetery ( lt, Lietuvių tautinės kapinės) is a non-profit cemetery in Justice, Illinois, that mainly serves the Lithuanian American community in Chicago. Established in 1911, it is the resting place of many prominent L ...
near Chicago and the 50th anniversary congress of the in
Cleveland. Šliūpas promoted the activities of the
Freethinkers' Society of Ethical Culture
The Freethinkers' Society of Ethical Culture ( lt, Laisvamanių etinės kultūros draugija or LEKD) was a Lithuanian society promoting freethought active from 1923 to 1941. Chaired by Jonas Šliūpas, it promoted non-religious policies in public li ...
and asked Lithuanian Americans for financial support. He returned to Lithuania on 22 July. Šliūpas traveled to United States again in 1939 to attend the
New York World's Fair – his daughter Aldona helped organizing the Lithuanian exhibition. He arrived to New York aboard
MS ''Gripsholm'' three days before the outbreak of
World War II. Šliūpas hurried back to Lithuania. Reportedly he told an acquaintance that he could not remain in United States because work awaited in Lithuania – during the first war, Lithuania regained independence so maybe during this war it could regain
Vilnius and
Königsberg.
After the
Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940, Šliūpas was invited (most likely via
Mečislovas Gedvilas who was a member of the Society of Ethical Culture) to the
People's Government of Lithuania, but refused. Former Prime Minister
Antanas Merkys stopped by Šliūpas home in Palanga when he tried to flee abroad. Unlike many Lithuanian periodicals, ''Laisvoji mintis'' was not abolished by the new communist regime but Šliūpas was replaced as editor by . Šliūpas' investments and other property was nationalized, but the new government made a special exception allowing him keep his house in Palanga. During the
June deportation, Šliūpas sister-in-law was deported to Siberia and he received a warning that his own family was on a deportee list.
In June 1941, at the start of the
German occupation of Lithuania, several prominent residents of Palanga met at the city hall and decided to elect new city council, headed by Šliūpas, in hopes of reigning in the chaotic situation. However, according to Šliūpas' memoirs, he was falsely identified as a Jew sympathizer and briefly arrested by the Germans. Šliūpas had expressed
anti-Semitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
attitudes in his earlier works (for example, complaining about Jewish near-monopoly on trade in Lithuania), but became radicalized during the war and blamed
Jewish Bolshevism on the communist atrocities in 1940–1941. During the occupation, Šliūpas struggled financially (he lived on a monthly pension of 40
Reichsmarks which was increased to 200 in 1942) and had difficulties obtaining basic food items. He communicated with
Petras Kubiliūnas, the General Counsel of the ''
Generalbezirk Litauen'', and even floated an idea of a special commission to visit
Adolf Hitler to present a proposal for Lithuania's independence. He also continued to write and translate, though most of his works remained unpublished, including a translation of ''Atoms in Action'' by
George R. Harrison
George Russell Harrison (July 14, 1898 – July 27, 1979) was an American physicist.
Harrison became professor of experimental physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1930, and was appointed the school's dean of science in 1 ...
. Some of his war-time writings show influence of Nazi ideology. For example, in an article published in 1943, Šliūpas advocated for a government program to
euthanize incurably ill patients.
In October 1944, Šliūpas decided to flee Lithuania ahead of the
advancing Red Army. Together with his wife and son, he reached
Vienna aboard a German train. He was invited by the Lithuanian Aid () at the
Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories to
Berlin to record a speech that would be broadcast to Lithuanian Americans. Other Lithuanians recruited for a similar effort included
Mykolas Biržiška
Mykolas Biržiška (; ; 24 August 1882, in Viekšniai – 24 August 1962, in Los Angeles), a Lithuanian editor, historian, professor of literature, diplomat, and politician, was one of the twenty signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuan ...
and
Kazys Musteikis
Kazys Musteikis (November 22, 1894 – June 6, 1977) was a Lithuanian military brigadier general, Lithuanian Minister of National Defence in 1938–1940.
Biography
On September 1939 in the beginning of the Invasion of Poland and the World War ...
. Šliūpas wrote his speech but before he could record it, he died in a Berlin hotel at about 9 a.m. on 6 November 1944. Lithuanians in Berlin organized a special committee, chaired by
Vaclovas Sidzikauskas
Vaclovas Sidzikauskas (10 April 1893 – 2 December 1973) was a prominent diplomat in interwar Lithuania and post-war anti-communist.
Educated at the University of Fribourg and Moscow University, Sidzikauskas joined the newly established Lithuan ...
, to organize his funeral. Despite difficult wartime conditions, it was an official affair with opera singers and speeches by Lithuanian officials. He was cremated in
Wilmersdorf and his ashes were buried at the
Lithuanian National Cemetery
The Lithuanian National Cemetery ( lt, Lietuvių tautinės kapinės) is a non-profit cemetery in Justice, Illinois, that mainly serves the Lithuanian American community in Chicago. Established in 1911, it is the resting place of many prominent L ...
in
Justice, Illinois in 1948. A monument in the cemetery was built in 1950. In 1989, his former home in Palanga was turned into a memorial museum. In 2009–2012, Šliūpas' son Vytautas transferred family's vast library and archives (books, periodicals, manuscripts, letters, photos, personal items, etc.) to the library of
Šiauliai University
Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County.
Names
Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different l ...
.
Works
Writings
Šliūpas was a prolific author. During his life, he published more than 70 books and brochures as well as contributed numerous articles to Lithuanian, American, Polish, German, Swedish, and French periodicals, including ''
Ateitis'', ''Garsas'', ''Iliustruotoji Lietuva'', ''Kultūra'', ''Lietuva'', ''
Lietuwißka Ceitunga The ''Lietuwißka Ceitunga'' (literally: ''Lithuanian Newspaper'') was an influential Lithuanian-language newspaper published for Prussian Lithuanians, an ethnic minority of East Prussia, a province of the German Empire. It was established in 1877 ...
'', ''
Lietuvos žinios'', ''Naujienos'', ''Dziennik Poznański'', ''Frankfurter Zeitung'', ''Svensk Tidskrift''. Much of his writing is translated and adapted from other works. Even by his own admission, he prioritized quantity over quality and on occasion plagiarized other authors without giving proper credit. He prioritized promotion of ideas (didactic and propaganda goals) over original research. Even in his obituary,
Mykolas Biržiška
Mykolas Biržiška (; ; 24 August 1882, in Viekšniai – 24 August 1962, in Los Angeles), a Lithuanian editor, historian, professor of literature, diplomat, and politician, was one of the twenty signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuan ...
wrote that Šliūpas will be remembered not for his writings which were often of low value, but for his tireless work and dedication to the Lithuanian causes.
Researcher Charles Perrin described Šliūpas as a chameleon who held fluid and sometimes outright contradictory views at the same time. At different times, he had different religions (Catholicism and atheism), belonged to different nationalities (Polish, Lithuanian, American), held different political views (Lithuanian nationalist, socialist, anti-fascist sympathetic to communism, an anti-communist sympathetic to Nazism). With his changing views, he published works on numerous topics – from politics and history to atheism and child education. His three-volume history of Lithuania was the longest Lithuanian-language history of Lithuania until the four-volume history was published in 1957–1975. Šliūpas was a compiler of other historical studies and he did not engage in historical research. He was not interested in academic and critical evaluation of historical facts. Rather, he saw history as a didactic tool to teach and inspire Lithuanians and, as many
romantic
Romantic may refer to:
Genres and eras
* The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries
** Romantic music, of that era
** Romantic poetry, of that era
** Romanticism in science, of that e ...
historians, he idealized and glorified the past. One of the more original ideas was a union between Lithuania and Latvia that Šliūpas kept returning to throughout his life though it never gained traction.
Šliūpas wrote four autobiographies. The first was written in 1903 for the 20th anniversary of ''Aušra''. After a stomach operation in 1924, he wrote his second autobiography which he published as a separate booklet in 1927. The third autobiography was written in 1931 and published in a collection of articles and documents on Šliūpas edited by Juozas V. Girdvainis in 1934. The last autobiography was written in 1941 and first published by Juozas Jakštas in 1979.
Editor of periodicals
Šliūpas edited the following newspapers and magazines:
* ''
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 - ...
'' (Dawn) in 1883–1884
* ''Unija'' (Union) in 1884–1885
* ''
Lietuviškasis balsas
''Lietuviškasis balsas'' (original spelling: ''Lietuwiszkasis Bałsas''; literally: The Lithuanian Voice) was a Lithuanian-language newspaper published by Jonas Šliūpas from July 1885 to February 1889 in New York City and Shenandoah, Pennsylva ...
'' (The Lithuanian Voice) in 1885–1889
* ''Apšvieta'' (The Enlightenment) in 1892–1893
* ''Nauja gadynė'' (The New Era) in 1894–1896
* ''Laisvoji mintis'' (Free Thought) in 1910–1914 and 1933–1940
Organizations and societies
Michał Pius Römer called Šliūpas a better agitator than an organizer. He was a founder, chairman, or board member of various societies, including:
* Friends of Lithuania Society () – founder in 1885, society active until 1888
* Alliance of All Lithuanians in America () – founder in 1886, society active until 1888
*
Lithuanian Scientific Society
The Lithuanian Scientific Society ( lt, Lietuvių mokslo draugija) was a scientific, cultural, and educational organization that was active between 1907 and 1940 in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was founded in 1907 on the initiative of Jonas Basanavič ...
() – founder in 1889, society active until 1896
* Union of Lithuanian Freethinkers in America () – founder in 1900, society active until 1910
* Aušra Society (to provide financial support for Lithuanian students) – treasurer in 1904–1912
* () – treasurer in 1905
* Union of Lithuanian Freethinkers () – founder in 1910
* International College of Midwifery – president in 1912–1915
* Lithuanian Press Society () – chairman of a committee in 1912
* Lithuanian National League of America () – founder in 1914, society active until 1943
* Federation of Lithuanian Freethinkers () – founder in 1918, society active until 1922 in Chicago
* Lithuanian Executive Committee () – vice-chairman in 1918
*
Freethinkers' Society of Ethical Culture
The Freethinkers' Society of Ethical Culture ( lt, Laisvamanių etinės kultūros draugija or LEKD) was a Lithuanian society promoting freethought active from 1923 to 1941. Chaired by Jonas Šliūpas, it promoted non-religious policies in public li ...
() – founder in 1923, society active until 1941
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sliupas, Jonas
1861 births
1944 deaths
Lithuanian newspaper editors
Lithuanian socialists
Lithuanian physicians
Historians of Lithuania
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
Members of the Socialist Labor Party of America
Vytautas Magnus University faculty
Mayors of places in Lithuania
Moscow State University alumni
University of Maryland School of Medicine alumni
Recipients of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas
Inmates of Kresty Prison