Jonas Biliūnas (11 April 1879 – 8 December 1907) 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 writer, poet, and a significant contributor to the national awakening of Lithuania in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Biography

Early life

Biliūnas was born near

Anykščiai Anykščiai (; see #Name, other names) is a ski resort city in Lithuania, west of Utena, Lithuania, Utena. The Roman Catholic Church of St. Matthias in Anykščiai is the tallest church in Lithuania, with spires measuring in height. Anykščia ...

, in the

Kovno Governorate Kovno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Kovno (Kaunas). It was formed on 18 December 1842 by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Nicholas I from the western part of Vilna Govern ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, in the tiny village of Niūronys, where he spent his early childhood. Between 1891 and 1899, he attended the secondary school in

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

(now in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Studies at universities

In 1900, he matriculated as a medical student at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

(now in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

). He had already been writing for various publications of a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

nature under the pseudonyms of J. Anykštėnas, Jonas Gražys, J. Barzdyla, as well as others. His anti-Tsarist activities and support of the

Social Democratic Party of Lithuania The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (, LSDP) is a centre-left and social democratic political party in Lithuania. Founded as an underground Marxist organisation in 1896, it is the oldest extant party in Lithuania. During the time of the ...

caused him to be expelled from medical school in 1901, and he returned to Lithuania and lived in

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

and

Panevėžys Panevėžys () is the fifth-largest List of cities in Lithuania, city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, eighth-most-populous city in the Baltic States. it occupies with 89,100 inhabitants. As defined by Eu ...

until 1903. After several unsuccessful attempts to return to the University of Tartu, Biliūnas journeyed to

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

in the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, where he enrolled in the ''Handelshochschule'', a business and commercial school. Around this period Biliūnas took a greater interest in literature in general, and creative writing in particular. After one semester at the business school, he decided to enroll at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

where he began his formal studies of

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

with an emphasis on literary composition.

Religious experience

As he was growing weaker with illness, he more often hallucinated, yet was still an atheist. Unexpectedly however, once in a Leipzigian theatre, Biliūnas suddenly saw

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

onstage in an act, who quietly whispered to Biliūnas: "We'll meet in a short while. Work". Biliūnas immediately fainted. This hallucination undercut Biliūnas' worldview and baffled his mind.

Illness

Signs of ill health in Biliūnas had already begun to manifest themselves during his earlier studies at Tartu. By 1904, it became clear that he had

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, and the disease had done considerable damage to his health. After spending the summer of 1904 in Lithuania, Biliūnas enrolled at the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

that autumn. Within a year the disease had forced him to abandon his studies, and he was admitted into a tuberculosis

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

, in

Zakopane Zakopane (Gorals#Language, Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has ...

(in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

). He was cared for by his wife Julija Biliūnienė. After briefly visiting with his family in Lithuania during the summer of 1906, Biliūnas returned to the sanatorium and died on 8 December 1907.

Burial

The two

World Wars A world war is an international conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I (19 ...

, and other political considerations, prevented Biliūnas' desire to have his remains returned to Lithuania. Finally in 1953, his wishes were realized, and he was re-interred on a

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

mound near his birthplace, and a museum was created in

honoring his life and works.

Literary works and assessment

Biliūnas is considered to have two distinct periods in his literary career. The first spans the years 1900-1903, and the second, 1904-1907. Most of his works are

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

, and often have autobiographical inclusions dealing with his own personal life experiences. In the first period, a realistic style imbued with a strong social consciousness is prevalent in his writings. Two of his works from this period include ''Be darbo'' (Unemployed), and '' Pirmutinis streikas'' (First Strike). A political ideology of a socialist nature permeate this period and are reminiscent of the early writings of

Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...

and

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalism (literature), naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despi ...

. Possibly as a result of his debilitating illness, which in that time period was inevitably fatal, Biliūnas underwent a spiritual metamorphosis. His political activities and interests were supplanted by a melancholy, and a departure from realism, which were now manifested in his writings of the second period. ''Brisiaus galas'' (The End of Brisius), is a tear-jerking recounting of the demise of a family dog with the thoughts of the dog interspersed with the thoughts of his owner. '' Ant Uetlibergo giedra'' (Fine Weather on the Uetliberg) is almost a travelog of his perspective of the

Swiss Alps The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...

near

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. ''Liūdna pasaka'' (A Sad Tale) is his longest work, a psychological drama dealing with the

Uprising of 1863 The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last in ...

. The main character, a woman, is driven to ruin as a consequence of the uprising. During the period between 1900 and 1905, Biliūnas wrote approximately fifteen poems, including several

sonnets A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...

. These sonnets were influenced by his studies of

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

. Most critical reviews of his poems are of the opinion that they fall short of his other writings. Biliūnas wrote several articles concerning literary criticism, which are highly regarded and considered to show his depth of perception concerning the subjects he dealt with. Most of Jonas Biliūnas' works were published posthumously, and have been translated in many different languages.

Collected works

*
Įvairūs apsakymėliai
'. Tilžė:

Aušra ''Aušra'' or ''Auszra'' (literally: ''dawn'') was the first national Lithuanian newspaper. The first issue was published in 1883, in Ragnit, East Prussia, Germany (newspaper credited it as ) East Prussia's ethnolinguistic part - Lithuania Mi ...

, 1906. 64 p. * ''Liūdna pasaka: kūrybos rinktinė''. Vilnius: J. Zavadskis publishing house, 1908. 32 p. * ''Žemės gyvenimo reiškiniai''. Berlin, 1923. 72 p. (issued 1905; 1921) * ''Liūdna pasaka: kūrybos rinktinė''. Kaunas, 1937. 73 p. * ''Kliudžiau'': Kaunas: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1946. * ''Raštai''. Kaunas: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1947. * ''Nemunu'': apsakymėliai. Kaunas: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1947. 98 p. * ''Joniukas''. Vilnius: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1948. 24 p. (reissued by. Vaga: 1974; 1979) * ''Laimės žiburys''. Vilnius: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1949. 14 p. * ''Lazda''. Vilnius: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1959. 329 p. * ''Liūdna pasaka'': kūrybos rinktinė. Vilnius: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1963. 50 p. * ''Žvaigždė: apsakymai''. Vilnius: Vaga, 1965. 70 p. * ''Laimės žiburys: apsakymai''. Vilnius: Vaga, 1965 (reissued. 1976). 79 p. * ''Apsakymai''. Vilnius: Vaga, 1967 . 77 p. (переизд. 1984) * ''Liūdna pasaka'': kūrybos rinktinė. Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 1995. 132 p. * ''Kūdikystės sapnai: kūrybos rinktinė''. Anykščiai: A. Baranausko ir A. Vienuolio-Žukausko memor. muz., 2001. 121 p. * ''Apsakymai; Eilėraščiai''. Kaunas: SPAB Spindulys, 2001. 79 p. * ''Kliudžiau: apsakymas vaikams.'' Panevėžys: E. Vaičekauskas boosktsore printing house, 2003. 15 p. * ''Proza''. Vilnius: Žaltvykslė, 2004. 63 p. * ''Kūdikystės sapnai'': kūrybos rinktinė / Prepared by Alma Ambraškaitė. Utena: Utenos Indra, 2005. 100 p. .

References

External links

*
I Got It
' a translation of ''Kliudžiau'' into English {{DEFAULTSORT:Biliunas, Jonas 1879 births 1907 deaths People from Anykščiai District Municipality People from Vilkomirsky Uyezd Lithuanian male poets Lithuanian short story writers Lithuanian socialists 19th-century Lithuanian poets 19th-century short story writers 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in the Russian Empire Tuberculosis deaths in Poland