Vacys Reimeris (3 August 1921 in

Kuršėnai Kuršėnai (; Samogitian dialect, Samogitian: ''Koršienā''; yi, קורשאַן ''Kurshon''; german: Kurschenen; pl, Kurszany; lv, Kuršēni) is the twenty-fifth largest city in Lithuania. According to the 2020 estimate, it had 10,829 resident ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

– 6 February 2017) was a

n poet, translator, and artist of the former

Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...

(1965).

Biography

He graduated from elementary school in Kuršėnai in 1934 and completed a gymnasium course called ''Savišvieta'' (''Self-study'', likely a form of correspondence program) in 1941. At the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was evacuated into Russia. He joined the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

in 1945. After the war, he worked on radio 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 ...

. He was the head of the Kaunas branch of the

Lithuanian Writers' Union The Lithuanian Association for Writers is an association for writers and poets in Lithuania, founded in 1922. It gives annual prizes and awards to talented Lithuanian writers. The Association also has its own publishing house. References Exter ...

. He was the chief editor of the weekly newspaper of the Writers' Union ''

Literatūra ir menas ''Literatūra ir menas'' () is a biweekly magazine of the Lithuanian Writers' Union. It has been published since July 21, 1946 in Vilnius. History ''Literatūra ir menas'' was first published as a monthly supplement to the newspaper '' Tarybų L ...

'' (''Literature and Art'', 1949–1959). From 1951 to 1956 he studied at the Moscow

Maxim Gorky Literature Institute The Maxim Gorky Literature Institute (russian: Литературный институт им. А. М. Горького) is an institution of higher education in Moscow. It is located at 25 Tverskoy Boulevard in central Moscow. History The insti ...

. From 1952 to 1954 he was the secretary of the Lithuanian Writers' Union. In 1969–1986 he was editor in chief of the weekly newspaper ''Gimtasis kraštas'' (''Native Land''). For a collection of poems ''Prie baltojo Tadž'' (''By the White Taj'', 1962) about

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

he was awarded the

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

Prize (1968). He received the State Prize of the Lithuanian SSR for a collection of poems for children ''Šarkos švarkas'' (''Magpie's Jacket'', 1975). In 1977 he won the Spring Poetry with ''Vėjo vynas'' (''Wine of the Wind'').

Works

His first poem was published in 1934. The first book of poems ''Tėvų žemei'' (''To Land of our Fathers'') was published in 1945. Collections of poetry include ''Su pavasariu'' (''With Spring'', 1948), ''Ir skrenda daina'' (''And a Song Flies'', 1952), ''Su tavim aš kalbu'' (''I'm Speaking with You'', 1958), ''Žemė su puokšte gėlių'' (''Earth with a Bouquet of Flowers'', 1986), ''Į svečius Liliputijon'' (''Visiting the Land of Lilliputs'', 2001). He published a collection of essays about Lithuania ''Lietuva - broliška žemė'' (''Lithuania, A Brotherly Land'', 1966) and a book of impressions of a trip to

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

''Užatlantės laiškai'' (''Transatlantic Letters'', 1974). In poetry, his themes include official optimism, peaceful labor, heroism, and struggle for peace of the Soviet people. His poetry has features of a report, often with a distinct narrative story-line. Much of the poems include love lyrics (especially the collection ''Ave Maria'').

Translations

Reimeris translated into the

Lithuanian language Lithuanian ( ) is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the official language of Lithuania and one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.8 millio ...

poems by

Aleksandr Tvardovsky Aleksandr Trifonovich Tvardovsky ( rus, links=no, Александр Трифонович Твардовский, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr ˈtrʲifənəvʲɪtɕ tvɐrˈdofskʲɪj; – 18 December 1971) was a Soviet poet and writer and chief editor of ' ...

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

Konstantin Simonov Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov, born Kirill Mikhailovich Simonov (russian: link= no, Константин Михайлович Симонов, – 28 August 1979), was a Soviet author, war poet, playwright and wartime correspondent, arguabl ...

, and others. Works of Reimeris were translated into the languages of the Soviet Union. There are known translations in English, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian and other languages.

References

* ''Translated from Russian Wikipedia'' * Outline of the History of Lithuanian Soviet literature. Moscow, 1956. ;Specific

External links

Reimeris, Vacys

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reimeris, Vacys 1921 births 2017 deaths People from Kuršėnai Lithuanian male poets Soviet male poets 20th-century male writers Lithuanian newspaper editors