Bernardas Brazdžionis (January 11, 1907 in Stebeikėliai – July 11, 2002 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

) was a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n poet. Bernardas Brazdžionis also used various

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

s, such as '' Vytė Nemunėlis'', ''Jaunasis Vaidevutis''.

Biography

Bernardas Brazdžionis was born in Stebeikėliai in 1907, however, after one year Brazdžionis' family emigrated to

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Brazdžionis along with his family stayed in the US until 1914 when they returned to Lithuania. Bernardas Brazdžionis finished

Biržai Biržai (, also known by several alternative names) is a city in northern Lithuania. Famous for its reconstructed Biržai Castle manor, the whole region is renowned for its many traditional-recipe beer breweries. Name The exact origin of th ...

gymnasium in 1929, soon after graduation, he enrolled in

Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) (, 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 as the University of Lithuania, but ...

, which Brazdžionis finished in 1934. Bernardas Brazdžionis helped to copyread various Lithuanian journals and papers, like ''Ateities spinduliai'', ''Pradalgės''. He also wrote critiques of various books. In 1939 Bernardas Brazdžionis was awarded with the State literature prize for his poetry book ''Kunigaikščių miestas''. In 1944 Bernardas Brazdžionis moved to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, where he lived until 1949. Brazdžionis finally settled in the US, actively participating in Lithuanian community activities. Patriotic songs based on his poems were performed during the

Singing Revolution The Singing Revolution was a series of events from 1987 to 1991 that led to the restoration of independence of the three Soviet-occupied Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the end of the Cold War. The term was coined by a ...

in Lithuania; the complete edition of Brazdžionis' poetry ''Poezijos pilnatis'' was sold with great success and reached big popularity. Bernardas Brazdžionis died in Los Angeles, 2002 and in the same year was reburied 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 ...

Petrašiūnai Cemetery Petrašiūnai Cemetery () is Lithuania's premiere last resting place formally designated for graves of people influential in national history, politics, arts, and science. Location Petrašiūnai Cemetery is located about south-east of the cent ...

. Brazdžionis was a member of the Catholic youth and student organization Ateitis.

References

Biography of Bernardas Brazdžionis
Retrieved on 2007-09-27 Lithuanian male poets 1907 births 2002 deaths Vytautas Magnus University alumni 20th-century Lithuanian poets Burials at Petrašiūnai Cemetery Lithuanian refugees in the United States {{Lithuania-poet-stub