Lithuanian book smugglers or Lithuanian book carriers (, singular: ) smuggled

Lithuanian language Lithuanian (, ) is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of t ...

books printed in the

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from � ...

into Lithuanian-speaking areas of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, defying a ban on such materials in force from 1864 to 1904. In Lithuanian, ''knygnešys'' literally means "the one who carries books". Opposing imperial Russian authorities' efforts to replace the traditional Latin

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with

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

, and transporting printed matter from as far away as the

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to do so, the book smugglers became a symbol of Lithuanians' resistance to Russification.

History

After the Polish-Lithuanian insurrection of 1863, the Russian Imperial government intensified its efforts to Russify the Lithuanian population and alienate it from its historic roots, including the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

faith, which had become widespread during the years of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

During the summer of 1863, Tsar Alexander II issued Temporary Rules for State Junior Schools of the Northwestern Krai, ruling that only Russian-language education would be allowed there. In 1864, the Governor General of the Vilnius Governorate, Mikhail Muravyov, ordered that Lithuanian language primers were to be printed only in the Cyrillic alphabet. Muravyov's successor, Konstantin Kaufman, banned all Lithuanian-language use of the Latin alphabet in 1865. In 1866, the Tsar issued an oral ban on the printing or importing of printed matter in Lithuanian. Although formally, the order had no legal force, it was executed de facto until 1904. During this time, there were approximately fifty-five printings of Lithuanian books in Cyrillic. Most of the Latin-alphabet Lithuanian-language books and periodicals published at the time were printed in Lithuania Minor and then smuggled into Lithuania. When caught, the book smugglers were punished by fines, banishment, and exile, including deportation to Siberia. Some were shot after crossing the border. In 1867, Motiejus Valančius, the Bishop of Samogitia, began to covertly organize and finance this printing abroad and sponsored the distribution of Lithuanian-language books within Lithuania. In 1870, his organization was uncovered with the help of Prussian authorities, and five priests and two book smugglers were exiled to remote areas of Russia. Other book smugglers carried on his work. During the final years of the ban, an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 books were smuggled in annually. About one-third of them were seized by authorities. Lithuanian books reached every settlement in Lithuania, and many legal institutions served as undercover transfer points for the books. A number of secret organizations distributed the books throughout Lithuania, including ', ''Atgaja'', ''Teisybė'', ''Prievarta'', ''Aušrinė'', ''Atžala'', ''Lizdas'', ''Akstinas'', ''Spindulys'', ''Svirplys'', ''Žiburėlis'', ''Žvaigždė'', and ''Kūdikis''. In East Prussia, from 1864 up to 1896, more than 3 500 000 copies of publications in the Lithuanian language was published: about 500 000 primers, more than 300 000 scientific secular editions, 75 000 newspapers, and other types of publications. The ban's lack of success was recognized by the end of the 19th century, and in 1904, under the official pretext that the minorities within the Russian Empire needed to be pacified after the failure in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

, the ban on Lithuanian-language publications was lifted. In 1905, soon after the ban was lifted, one of the book smugglers, , opened his own bookstore in

Panevėžys Panevėžys () is the fifth-largest List of cities in Lithuania, city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, eighth-most-populous city in the Baltic States. it occupies with 89,100 inhabitants. As defined by Eu ...

. This bookstore is still operational, and a chain of bookstores operates in Lithuania under his name. This historical episode was widely suppressed during the years when Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union.

Book smuggler societies

Remembrance

The book smugglers were an important part of the Lithuanian National Revival. After the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, book smugglers were honored in Lithuania with museums, monuments, and street names. A statue dedicated to "The Unknown Book Smuggler" stands in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

. The special relationship between Lithuanians and books is still seen in the highly popular Vilnius Book Fair. Lithuanian book smugglers helped shape the future. They stood tall for their country and are still honored in many places now. Book smuggler Jurgis Bielinis, who created a secret distribution network for banned Lithuanian books, was born on 16 March 1846, and this date is commemorated in Lithuania as the Day of the Book Smugglers (''Knygnešio diena''). In 1988, the Lithuanian Knygnešiai Association was established at the Lithuanian Culture Foundation. Among its goals were to collect information about all Lithuanian book smugglers and printers. , four volumes titled ''Knygnešys'' were printed. In 1997, the "" was unveiled at the Vytautas the Great War Museum. and in 1998, the book ''Šimtas knygnešių. Knygnešių sienelės vardai'' ("One Hundred Books Smugglers. Names on the Book Smugglers' Wall") was published. During 1959–2000, there was a magazine named which provided information about (modern) books and book publishers. At the 2018 London Book Fair, the tactics of ''Knygnešiai'' was used to distribute books of the Lithuanian authors and spread the information about the Lithuanian pavilion.

Bibliography

* Ruseckas, Petras (1992–1997) ''Knygnešys : 1864–1904'' (Book-smuggler: 1864–1904) (3 vols.) Valstybinis leidybos centras, Vilnius, (Volumes 1 & 2, reprint, originally published: Spaudos fondas, Kaunas, 1926–1928) (in Lithuanian); * Merkys, Vytautas (1994) ''Knygnešių laikai: 1864–1904'' (The era of the book-smugglers: 1864–1904) Valstybinis leidybos centras, Vilnius, (in Lithuanian); * Merkys, Vytautas (1994) ''Draudžiamosios lietuviškos spaudos kelias: 1864–1904: informacinė knyga'' (The path of the banned Lithuanian press: 1864–1904: An information book) Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla, Vilnius, (in Lithuanian); * Kaluškevičius, Benjaminas and Žemaitytė-Narkevičienė, Ona (1998) ''Šimtas knygnešių: knygnešių sienelės vardai'' (''One Hundred Book Carriers: The Names on the Book Carriers Wall'') Lietuvos kultūros fondas, Lietuvos Knygnešio draugija, Vilnius, (in Lithuanian);

References

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