Juozapas Ambraziejus or Ambrozevičius (1855–1915) was a Roman Catholic priest active in Lithuanian culture life in Vilnius in 1896–1908. Educated at the

Sejny Priest Seminary The Sejny Priest Seminary or Sejny Theological Seminary ( Lithuanian: ''Seinų kunigų seminarija'') was a Catholic priest seminary established in Sejny (now Poland) in 1826. The courses lasted five years. Up until its dissolution in 1926, the sem ...

, Ambraziejus first worked in the

Diocese of Łomża In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

before he transferred to the Diocese of Vilnius in 1892. He worked at several rural parishes before he received a position in Vilnius. He joined Lithuanian cultural life in the city and was one of the organizers of the illegal club known as the

Twelve Apostles of Vilnius The Lithuanian Mutual Aid Society of Vilnius ( lt, Vilniaus lietuvių savitarpinės pašalpos draugija) was a mutual aid and cultural society active in Vilnius, then part of the Russian Empire, from 1904 to 1915. It originated from the illegal soci ...

which later grew into the

Lithuanian Mutual Aid Society of Vilnius The Lithuanian Mutual Aid Society of Vilnius ( lt, Vilniaus lietuvių savitarpinės pašalpos draugija) was a mutual aid and cultural society active in Vilnius, then part of the Russian Empire, from 1904 to 1915. It originated from the illegal soci ...

. He was one of the first organizers of Lithuanian cultural evenings (though they were illegal until 1904–1905) and organized the first Lithuanian choirs in the city. He campaigned for the use of the Lithuanian language at Catholic churches and attempted to combat Polonization efforts of local clergy. In particular, he opposed bishop Edward von Ropp and was suspended from his priestly duties in 1906. He published a

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

which was added to ''

Index Librorum Prohibitorum The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbidden ...

'', the list of prohibited books by the Vatican, in 1907. After 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 ...

was lifted in 1904, Ambraziejus established the illustrated agricultural magazine ''Lietuvos bitininkas'' (Lithuanian Beekeeper) which was later reorganized as ''Šviesa'' (Light). When the publication failed in 1908, Ambraziejus retired from public life and ran a shelter for the city's poor until his death in 1915.

Biography

Ambraziejus was born in

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 ...

to a family of Lithuanian farmers. He studied at the

Marijampolė Gymnasium Marijampolė Rygiškių Jonas Gymnasium ( lt, Marijampolės Rygiškių Jono gimnazija) is a secondary school in Marijampolė, Lithuania. It is named after Rygiškių Jonas, one of the pen names of linguist Jonas Jablonskis who was one of the gymn ...

in 1869–1874 and the

in 1874–1880. Ordained as a priest, he was first assigned to the Jedwabne parish. In 1883–1887, he was a vicar in a parish in Łomża. In 1888–1892, he had no official duties and lived in the . In late 1892, he received permission from the bishop of Vilnius to move to Vilnius. Just few months later, he was sent to work as a pastor in the parishes of Naujas Strūnaitis (where he started singing religious hymns and teaching catechism in Lithuanian) and . In 1894, he was demoted to a vicar in . He then departed to Saint Petersburg, reportedly to seek medical treatment but also to inquire various Tsarist officials about lifting of the

. Via professor , he met with

Evgeny Feoktistov Evgeny Mikhaylovich Feoktistov (russian: link=no, Евгений Михайлович Феоктистов; 1828 – 28 June 1898) was a Kaluga-born Russian journalist, editor, historian and, later in his life, state official. A Moscow Univer ...

, head of the press department at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1896, he returned to Vilnius and briefly served as a vicar at the Church of All Saints and the Church of St. Raphael the Archangel before a more permanent assignment as a vicar to the Church of St. Johns where he continued to work until his suspension in May 1906. After the failure of his magazine ''Šviesa'', he retired from public life and ran a shelter for the city's poor in Užupis. He died in Vilnius in June 1915 and was buried at the Rasos Cemetery.

Works and activities

Lithuanian language

In Vilnius, Ambraziejus joined the Lithuanian cultural life and became one of the founders of the illegal club known as the

which later grew into the

. He recruited Donatas Malinauskas and to join the Lithuanian National Revival. One of the goals of these societies was to fight for the Lithuanian language services in Catholic churches and to resist Polonization of Lithuanian residents by the priests. Ambraziejus helped obtaining the Church of Saint Nicholas for the needs of the Lithuanian community in Vilnius; Lithuanians fought for the church from 1896 to 1901. However, likely to avoid sanctions from the ecclesiastical hierarchy, none of the petitions on the matter bear his signature. Ambraziejus was one of the first to organize Lithuanian cultural evenings even though they were illegal until 1904–1905. He organized the first Lithuanian mixed choir in 1896 using beekeeping courses as an official excuse. In 1898, he organized a Lithuanian church choir and a cultural evening in his apartment. Based on the Polish hymn ''

Boże, coś Polskę ''Boże, coś Polskę'' is a Polish Catholic patriotic hymn. When Poland gained its independence in 1918, it competed with Mazurek Dąbrowskiego for the right to be the national anthem of Poland.Daugava) about the Lithuanian battles with the Teutonic Order and several other songs. His choir performed at two Lithuanian evenings that attracted 500–600 people in January and February 1901. When the Tsarist authorities began considering lifting the

, Ambraziejus established contacts with

Alexey Kharuzin Alexey Nikolayevich Kharuzin (russian: Алексе́й Никола́евич Хару́зин; March 12, 1864, Reval – May 8, 1932, Moscow) was a Russian ethnographer, anthropologist, and statesman. Kharuzin was born in Reva ...

, head of the office of the

Vilna Governorate-General Vilna Governorate-General, known as Lithuania Governorate-General (russian: Литовское генерал-губернаторство, li, Vilniaus generalgubernatorija) before 1830, was a Governorate-General of the Russian Empire from 1794 ...

. He met with Kharuzin several times to discuss and debate the press ban. Kharuzin recommended to Governor-General

Pyotr Sviatopolk-Mirsky Prince Pyotr Dmitrievich Svyatopolk-Mirsky (russian: Пётр Дми́триевич Святопо́лк-Ми́рский, tr. ; , in Vladikavkaz – , in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire) was a Russian general, politician, and police official. ...

to lift the press ban. This lead Ambraziejus to believe that the lifting of the ban in May 1904 was largely due to his actions. In 1905, Ambraziejus joined the organizational committee tasked with organizing the

Great Seimas of Vilnius The Great Seimas of Vilnius ( lt, Didysis Vilniaus Seimas, also known as the ''Great Assembly of Vilnius'', the ''Grand Diet of Vilnius'', or the ''Great Diet of Vilnius'') was a major assembly held on December 4 and 5, 1905 (November 21–22, 19 ...

. On 15 November, he signed a controversial memorandum ten points of demands and declarations addressed to Sergei Witte, Prime Minister of the Russian Empire. He participated in the founding of the () right after the Great Seimas. In February 1906, he participated in organizing the election to the first

Russian State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...

. In 1906, Ambraziejus published a short

which had a question on what bishop should be obeyed. The answer was that only the bishop who was selected by Lithuanians themselves and approved by the pope should be obeyed (Ambraziejus was particularly against bishop Edward von Ropp and considered him illegitimate as he did not sufficiently support the Lithuanian language in churches). For this and for publishing the catechism without proper approbation, Ambraziejus was suspended from his priestly duties. On 12 April 1907, the book was added to ''

'', the list of prohibited books by the Vatican. It is the only Lithuanian book on the list. Together with

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 ...

and others, Ambraziejus established the Union for the Return of the Lithuanian Language Rights in Lithuanian Churches () in July 1907. Ambraziejus was secretary and later chairman of this union. In spring 1906, after Lithuanians received permission to teach Lithuanian in schools, Ambraziejus was elected to a committee that raised funds and organized such lesson at various city schools. In late 1906, Ambraziejus was one of the co-founders 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 1906, Ambraziejus published a

primer Primer may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Primer'' (film), a 2004 feature film written and directed by Shane Carruth * ''Primer'' (video), a documentary about the funk band Living Colour Literature * Primer (textbook), a t ...

. In 1907, he published a 552-page Polish–Lithuanian–Russian dictionary. In total, in 1906–1909, Ambraziejus published twelve booklets.

Beekeeping and ''Šviesa''

Ambraziejus was interested in beekeeping. In 1891–1893, he published three books on beekeeping in Polish. At the time, most popular rectangular beehives in Lithuania were popularized by the Polish beekeeper . In observing beehives, Ambraziejus determined that round (similar to a tree stump) beehives would be more natural for the bees. In 1903, he exhibited his round beehives and a tool to extract honey from honeycombs at the first Russian Beekeeping Exhibition in Saint Petersburg and was awarded a silver medal. In 1908, he published a booklet about beekeeping in Lithuanian. He promoted venom from

bee sting A bee sting is the wound and pain caused by the stinger of a female bee puncturing skin. Bee stings differ from insect bites, with the venom of stinging insects having considerable chemical variation. The reaction of a person to a bee sting may ...

ers as a remedy for rheumatism and created a soap from honey. In 1905, Ambraziejus established and edited the illustrated magazine ''Lietuvos bitininkas'' (Lithuanian Beekeeper). After 12 issues, the magazine was reorganized into a Catholic journal for farmers ''Šviesa'' (light) with a weekly supplement ''Šviesos laiškelis'' (Newspaper of Šviesa). The publication was supported by donations from Lithuanian Americans. Though the publications were intended for former, Ambraziejus published many articles on the issues of the Lithuanian language in the Diocese of Vilnius (it became the official publication of the Union for the Return of the Lithuanian Language Rights in Lithuanian Churches in 1907). The magazine also raised the idea of purchasing Verkiai Manor (priced at 800,000 rubles) and turning into a campus for various Lithuanian agricultural and craft schools. However, this idea did not become popular and readership of ''Šviesa'' continued to decline. It was discontinued after 56 issues in 1908. Feeling misunderstood and disappointed with the Lithuanian public, Ambraziejus retired from public life. He was stubborn and abrasive which made him unpopular. With the funds raised for the Verkiai Manor (about 50,000 rubles) he purchased a house in Užupis district of Vilnius and established a shelter for the city's poor. He died in obscurity on 27 June 1915.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambraziejus, Juozapas 1855 births 1915 deaths People from Vilnius 19th-century Lithuanian Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Lithuanian Roman Catholic priests Burials at Rasos Cemetery