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Dionizas Poška (; October 1764 – 12 May 1830) was a Lithuanian
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
,
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
and
lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...
sometimes described also as Polish-Lithuanian He contributed to the early 19th-century
Samogitia Samogitia, often known by its Lithuanian language, Lithuanian name ''Žemaitija'' (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see Samogitia#Etymology and alternative names, below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five ...
n Revival, the early stage of the
Lithuanian National Revival The Lithuanian National Revival, alternatively the Lithuanian National Awakening or Lithuanian nationalism (), was a period of the history of Lithuania in the 19th century, when a major part of Lithuanian-inhabited areas belonged to the Russian ...
. Born to a family of petty Samogitian nobility, Poška attended Kražiai College. From 1786–1821, with some breaks, Poška worked as a lawyer, regent, clerk in the courts of
Raseiniai Raseiniai (; Samogitian dialect, Samogitian: ''Raseinē'') is a city in Lithuania. It is located on the south eastern foothills of the Samogitians highland, some north from the A1 highway (Lithuania), Kaunas–Klaipėda highway. History Grand ...
. From 1790, he lived in the purchased Barzdžiai manor. Poška excavated ancient graves and hillforts, collected archeological fossils, weapons, money, books. In 1812, he established the first museum of antiquities in Lithuania, within the trunk of a thousand-year-old oak called Baublys. He corresponded and communicated with Samogitians such as , Jurgis Plateris, Simonas Daukantas, , Kajetonas Nezabitauskis and others as well as
Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...
professorship, e.g. Joachim Lelewel and Ivan Loboiko. Poška wrote his works in Lithuanian and Polish. Most of his works remained only as manuscripts, which were included in a compilation of his own and other authors' works. His only works that were published during his lifetime were the verse letter "Pas kuniga Xawera Bohusza Lietuwi, yr Jokimą Leleweli Mozura" (from 1810) and two historical articles. His most famous work is the epic poem "Mužikas Žemaičių ir Lietuvos''"'' (in contemporary spelling: ''Mużikas Żiamajćziu ir Lietuwos''; the name is translatable to "The Peasant of Samogitia and Lithuania"). The epic poem was written , but printed only in 1886. He also compiled a trilingual Polish–Latin–Lithuanian dictionary from 1825 onwards but did not finish it.


Biography

Until 2004, the place and date of birth of Poška were unknown. His year of birth was subject to varied speculations that ranged from 1745 to 1775. In 2004, historian Povilas Šverebas discovered Poška's baptismal records of the Žemalė church. He was born in the manor between
Telšiai Telšiai (; Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Telšē'') is a city in Lithuania with about 21,499 inhabitants. It is the capital of Telšiai County and Samogitia region, and it is located on the shores of Lake Mastis. Telšiai is one of the ol ...
and Mažeikiai in a family of petty Samogitian gentry and was baptized in Žemalė on 13 October 1764. He was the son of Adam Paszkiewicz and his first wife Bogumiła Wisztortówna. His childhood passed at his parents' estate in Maldūnai ( Šilalė district). Between 1773 and 1780, Poška studied in Kražiai College. Later he studied law at the barrister's and until 1821 held various offices at the courts. In 1786 Poška became a lawyer. From 1790 till his death Poška lived in a small estate of his own in Bardžiai ( Raseiniai district) near , where he possessed around 500 ha of land and had 40
serfs Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed dur ...
. In 1792, Poška married Uršulė Sasnauskytė. They had no children. Poška was actively corresponding with professors of
Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...
, bishops, poets, writers and other cultural figures of Lithuania. Poška died in 1830 and was buried in Kaltinėnai cemetery (
Šilalė district municipality Šilalė (; Samogitian dialect, Samogitian: ''Šėlalė'', ) is a city in western Lithuania, Samogitia, Tauragė County. It is located north of Tauragė. The River Lokysta flows through the town and there is a pond in the centre of the town. H ...
) near his wife.


Baublys

Poška was a person of wide interests. He knew Lithuanian (native Samogitian dialect), Polish, Latin, Ancient Greek and other languages. His special interest laid in the past of Lithuanian nation, its language, spiritual and material culture. Poška collected ancient artifacts from archaeological excavations, military arms of the times of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...
, Lithuanian coins, medals and other rarities. A library of rare Lithuanian-language books was too collected by Poška. At the beginning of the 19th century Poška cut down an oak, that was growing in his estate, when the oak began to dry up and hollowed its trunk thus making a hut for the collection of his antiquities, that was called by Poška himself – Baublys (Baublys in Lithuanian means someone or something, who/that make a low roar, rumble), because of a characteristic sound when the wind was blowing through this trunk. In 1812 in this carved oak tree he established the first historical museum in Lithuania. Later more old oak trunks were carved for the collection of Poška to store. This museum soon became widely known not only in Lithuania, but also abroad and played an important role in encouraging
Lithuanian nobility The Lithuanian nobility () or ''szlachta'' of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (, ) was historically a legally privileged hereditary elite class in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth (including during period of foreign r ...
and the rest of Lithuanians to study the past of Lithuania. Today Baublys is a working museum, that depicts one of many initiatives of Lithuanian nobility during the
Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
period when the interest in the history of Lithuania was growing. Poška was one of the first Lithuanian nobles who felt interested in various Lithuanian antiquities.


Literary work

Poška was writing in his native Lithuanian and in a nobility language of the time – Polish language. During his lifetime, he himself did not publish much or tried to preserve his writings, thus part of his works and translations were lost. His literary heritage consists mostly of historical, philological and fictional works. Poška was collecting historical books in the Lithuanian language and wrote his own works on the Lithuanian past, language, ethnography and mythology. From 1825 to his death he was working on a trilingual Polish–Latin–Lithuanian dictionary. The unfinished dictionary consists of more than 25,000 words. The last entry is ''sanie'' (sled). The fiction works of Poška vary in form: they consist of long poems as well as short epigrams. The most famous literary work of Poška is "The Peasant of Samogitia and Lithuania", which was written by him during a ten-year span between 1815 and 1825. Today Poška is respected in Lithuania not only as a creator of the first Lithuanian historical museum and one of the first poets, who wrote in Lithuanian language, but also as one of the initiators of the early 19th-century informal Lithuanian cultural movement to revive the Lithuanian culture and Lithuanian language, the so-called Samogitian-Lithuanian revival (Žemaitiškas lietuvškasis sąjūdis). Poška also coined some
neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...
s, that are still used in
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 ...
and was making the first attempts at standardisation of the Lithuanian language.


References


Bibliography

*


External links


„Mužiko Žemaičių ir Lietuvos" autorius gimė Lėlaičiuose"


* ttp://www.muziejai.lt/Muziejus.lt.asp?Db_kodas=3066 Baubliai museum
Virtual exhibition: DIONIZAS POŠKA – the creator of the first museum of antiquities in Lithuania
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poska, Dionizas 1764 births 1830 deaths 19th-century lexicographers 18th-century Lithuanian nobility 19th-century Lithuanian nobility 19th-century Polish male writers Antiquarians Lithuanian male poets Museum founders Samogitian people Scholars from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth