Emilija Vileišienė ''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Jasmantaitė (1861–1935) was a Lithuanian activist. Born to a noble family, she attended the

Smolny Institute The Smolny Institute () is a Palladian edifice in Saint Petersburg that has played a major part in the history of Russia, notably as a center of women's education, and the headquarters of the Bolsheviks during the early stages of the October Re ...

and lived with her older brother in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. When her brother became severely ill, they moved to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

(Wilno, Vilna) where Vileišienė met her husband Antanas Vileišis and became active in Lithuanian cultural life. She was an active member of various Lithuanian organizations, including the Lithuanian Mutual Relief Society of Vilnius, Society of Saint Zita for servants, cultural Rūta Society. During World War I, she was a board member of the

Lithuanian Society for the Relief of War Sufferers The Lithuanian Society for the Relief of War Sufferers () was a Lithuanian charity organization that was active from 1914 to 1918. It was founded by various Lithuanian political figures as a committee to assist Lithuanian refugees of the First W ...

and was particularly active in organizing relief for war refugees. After the war, she remained in Vilnius and continued active public life despite several arrests by the Polish government. In 1928–1930, she toured numerous

Lithuanian American Lithuanian Americans refer to American citizens and residents of Lithuanian descent or were born in Lithuania. New Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has the largest percentage of Lithuanian Americans (20.8%) in its population in the United States. ...

communities collecting donations for the orphans and the poor.

Biography

Early life and activities

Vileišienė was born in 1861 in

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

where her father was stationed with the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

. Her parents were members of the

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 ...

from

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 ...

. In 1870, she was sent to the

for noble girls to obtain an education. The education lasted 12 years and covered a wide range of subjects, from physics and geography to dance and polite behavior. Her brother Jonas Jasmantas (1849–1906) studied at the Saint Petersburg University and after graduation obtained a job at the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Empire. After the death of her parents in 1875, Vileišienė lived with her brother and joined the Lithuanian cultural life in Saint Petersburg. She followed her brother to

where Jasmantas was posted as a financial inspector for seven years. They returned to Saint Petersburg, but Jasmantas became seriously ill in 1894. Vileišienė spent her time caring for her brother who traveled to

Pyatigorsk Pyatigorsk (; Circassian languages, Circassian: Псыхуабэ, ''Psıxwabæ'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, located on the Podkumok River, about from the town of Mineralnye Vody, which has an i ...

for treatments. In 1897, Vileišienė and her brother settled in

and joined the informal group

Twelve Apostles of Vilnius The Lithuanian Mutual Aid Society of Vilnius () was a mutual aid and cultural society active in Vilnius, then part of the Russian Empire, from 1904 to 1915. It originated from the illegal social club known as the Twelve Apostles of Vilnius which for ...

. There she met doctor Antanas Vileišis and they married on 6 October 1900 at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. Vileišienė cared for her paralyzed brother and for her husband's nephews and nieces. Together with her husband, she participated in Lithuanian cultural life: petitioned for Lithuanian-language services at the Church of St. Nicholas, supported the Lithuanian Mutual Relief Society of Vilnius which was chaired by her husband, organized a student group that later became a chapter of ''

Aušrininkai ''Aušrininkai'' was a semi-formal socialist student movement in Lithuania that formed around the ''Aušrinė'' (morning star) magazine. Established in 1910, it was the first youth organization in Lithuania. Student groups formed in various scho ...

'', became a member of the Lithuanian Scientific Society. She also actively participated in musical and theater performances of the Rūta Society and became one of the founders of the Society of Saint Zita for Lithuanian female servants. Some of the first Lithuanian theater performances took place in Vileišis' apartment. In August 1907, the Mutual Relief Society opened the first Lithuanian-language school in Vilnius. Vileišienė actively helped to organize the school, obtain funding and supplies, provide aid to students in need. In 1913, she was elected to the board of the Vilnius chapter of the Lithuanian Catholic Women's Organization.

World War I and after

When

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

started in August 1914, Vileišienė was one of the founders of the Lithuanian Committee of Vilnius, the first Lithuanian organization that provided aid to war refugees. The committee was absorbed by the

and she was elected to its board. She toured various cities and towns in Lithuania collecting donations, establishing local chapters, organizing new shelters. In May 1915, she attended a meeting of the Tatiana Committee during which she was introduced to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. When Vilnius was occupied by the Germans, General Alexei von Pfeil issued a proclamation that depicted Vilnius as a "pearl" of Poland. Vileišienė together with

Jonas Basanavičius Jonas Basanavičius (, ; 23 November 1851 – 16 February 1927) was an activist and proponent of the Lithuanian National Revival. He participated in every major event leading to the independent Lithuanian state and is often given the informal hon ...

and Jonas Kymantas visited von Pfeil to protest the proclamation and explain that Vilnius was the capital 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, ...

not of Poland. In October 1915,

Mykolas Biržiška Mykolas Biržiška (; 24 August 1882, in Viekšniai – 24 August 1962, in Los Angeles), a Lithuanian editor, historian, professor of literature, diplomat, and politician, was one of the twenty signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuan ...

, and opened a Lithuanian-language gymnasium in Vilnius (later Vytautas the Great Gymnasium). Vileišienė organized a student dormitory near the

Gate of Dawn The Gate of Dawn (), or Sharp Gate (, , , , ) is a city gate in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and one of its most important religious, historical and cultural monuments. It is a major site of Catholic pilgrimage in Lithuania. History T ...

. Vileišienė and other activists, including Basanavičius and Gaidelionis, were briefly arrested by the

Ober Ost The Supreme Commander of All German Forces in the East (), also known by its German abbreviation as , was both a high-ranking position in the armed forces of the German Empire as well as the name given to the occupied territories on the German s ...

officials in July 1916. Her husband died of

epidemic typhus Epidemic typhus, also known as louse-borne typhus, is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters where civil life is disrupted. Epidemic typhus is spread to people through contact wit ...

in April 1919 – she dressed in black for the rest of her life. As she needed to find means to support herself, Vileišienė became the supervisor of the student dormitory and moved in to live with the students. She was strict and demanding and thus there were frequent conflicts between her and the students. After one such conflicts, she resigned from the dormitory in July 1924. After the Great War, Vilnius frequently changed hands during the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

and the

Polish–Lithuanian War The Polish–Lithuanian War was an undeclared war fought in the aftermath of World War I between newly independent Lithuania and Poland, with fighting mainly in the Vilnius and Suwałki regions, which was part of the Lithuanian Wars of Independe ...

but eventually became part of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

. The Polish government restricted Lithuanian activities, often arresting and imprisoning Lithuanian activists. Vileišienė was arrested several times. For example, she was arrested in 1919 for protesting against Polish plans to exhume the bodies of Lithuanian soldiers and she was imprisoned for one month in November 1922 because the school dormitory did not have a proper sidewalk. In September 1928, Vileišienė set out on a 22-month trip to United States to collect donations for orphans and others in need. After her return, she received a pension and was able to retire. She died on 26 August 1935 after suffering a heart attack in January during mass at the Church of St. Nicholas. Her funeral was attended by many Lithuanian activists and she was buried in Rasos Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vileisiene, Emilija 1861 births 1935 deaths Lithuanian activists Lithuanian women activists People from Vilnius Burials at Rasos Cemetery People from the Russian Empire