Juozas Kralikauskas (October 22, 1910 – February 25, 2007 in

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

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 ...

) was a novelist and short story author.

Biography

Kralikauskas graduated from the seminary in Kaunas in 1928. After spending some years teaching, he attended a military academy and

Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) ( lt, Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas (VDU)) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known ...

, graduating from the latter with a degree in the humanities in 1940. In 1944 he moved to

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, and worked in the

Pickle Lake Pickle Lake is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the most northerly community in the province that has year-round access by road. Located north of Thunder Bay, highway access is via Highway 599, the only access road to the t ...

gold mines. He returned to Lithuania in 1994.

Work

His literary debut was made in 1937 with the short story ''Septyni kalavijai'' (Seven Swords). His next work, ''Urviniai žmonės'' (Cave People), did not appear until 1954. His literary output from then until his death consisted of

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

dramatizing the lives of

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

Vaišvilkas Vaišvilkas or Vaišelga (also spelled as ''Vaišvila'', ''Vojszalak'', ''Vojšalk'', ''Vaišalgas''; killed on 18 April 1267) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania (1264–1267). He was son of Mindaugas, the first and only Christian King of Lithuan ...

Tautvila Tautvilas (or Tautvila; died 1263) was Duke of Polotsk and one of Dausprungas' sons and nephews of King of Lithuania Mindaugas. Tautvilas together with his brother Gedvydas and uncle Vykintas waged a civil war against Mindaugas. The war resulted ...

Martynas Mažvydas Martynas Mažvydas (1510 – 21 May 1563) was a Protestant author who edited the first printed book in the Lithuanian language. Variants of his name include Martinus Masvidius, Martinus Maszwidas, M. Mossuids Waytkūnas, Mastwidas, Mažvyda ...

, and other medieval figures. The novels include metaphysical and psychoanalytical elements. They have been translated into Russian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Chinese, and other languages. He was awarded the

Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this O ...

Fifth Class in 1999.

Bibliography

* Septyni kalavijai: short stories. - Kaunas, 1937. * Urviniai žmonės: novel. - Chicago: Lietuviškos knygos klubas, 1954. * Šviesa lange: novel. - London: Nidos knygų klubas, 1960. * Titnago ugnis: novel. - Chicago: Lietuviškos knygos klubas, 1962. * Mindaugo nužudymas: awarded novel. - Chicago: Lietuviškos knygos klubas, 1964. * Vaišvilkas: novel. - Chicago: Lietuviškos knygos klubas, 1971. * Tautvila: novel. - Chicago: Lietuviškosios knygos klubas, 1973. * Martynas Mažvydas Vilniuje : novel. - Chicago: Lietuviškos knygos klubas, 1976. * Įkaitę Vilniaus akmenys: novel. - Chicago: Lietuviškos knygos klubas, 1979. * Po ultimatumo: novel. - Chicago: Lietuviškos knygos klubas, 1980. * Ąžuolai piliakalnyje: devynių istorinių romanų gelmenys ir problemos. - Torontas: Tėviškės Žiburiai, 1984. * Vėlinės: long short story. - Toronto: .n. 1988. * Įkaitę Vilniaus mūrai: long short stories. - Vilnius: Vaga, 1991. * Psichologijos įvadas. - Kaunas: Šviesa, 1993. * Titnago ugnis: historical novel. - Vilnius: Vyturys, 1993. * Mindaugas: historical novel. - Kaišiadorys: Kaišiadorių vyskupijos kurijos leidykla, 1995. * Urviniai: long short story and short stories. - Vilnius: Vaga, 1996. * Mažvydas: novel. - Vilnius: Lithuanian Writers Union Publishers, 1997. * Mindaugo kapas: novel. - Vilnius: Tyto alba, 2000. * Dinastijos žūtis: novel. - Vilnius: Tyto alba, 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kralikauskas, Juozas 1910 births 2007 deaths Lithuanian male writers Lithuanian novelists Lithuanian emigrants to Canada Knight's Crosses of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Vytautas Magnus University alumni 20th-century novelists