Jurgis Baltrušaitis (2 May 1873 – 3 January 1944) 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 Symbolist poet and translator who wrote in Lithuanian and Russian, and was an exponent of

iconology Iconology is a method of interpretation in cultural history and the history of the visual arts used by Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and their followers that uncovers the cultural, social, and historical background of themes and subjects in the visu ...

. He was the father of art historian and critic Jurgis Baltrušaitis Jr.

Writer

Baltrušaitis was born to a family of farmers in Paantvardys village near Jurbarkas, which was then under Imperial Russian rule. In 1885, he entered

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 ...

gymnasium, and graduated in 1893; he then entered the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at Moscow University. At the same time he attended lectures in the Faculty of History and Philology. From 1895 onwards Baltrušaitis began to take part in editing

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

-based literary magazines, and he began to work in Russian. He joined the Symbolist movement, and, in association with Sergei Polyakov, set up the publishing house ''Scorpio'', which published the chief Russian Symbolist magazines such as '' Vesy'' and '' Severnyie Tzvety'' as well as collections of Russian Symbolist poets. Baltrušaitis published three collections of poetry in Russian, and another three in Lithuanian. Authors he translated into Russian translations include Henrik Ibsen,

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

, August Strindberg,

Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to conscio ...

and Gabriele D'Annunzio.

Politician

Between 1900 and 1914, Baltrušaitis lived in Italy and Norway and spent much time traveling in other countries in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

. During

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 ...

and the subsequent

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

he was in Russia, where he actively participated in the Lithuanian political struggle for independence. In 1919 he was elected President of the Russian Union of Writers, and was known for his efforts to help and rescue many writers and intellectuals during the first years of the Bolshevik regime. After

regained independence in 1918, Baltrušaitis was appointed Lithuania's ambassador to Russia in 1920 and held this position until 1939. In 1932 he was honored with a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

by Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. In 1939, Baltrušaitis was appointed a counselor of the Lithuanian embassy in Paris. Following the annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union, his son, Jurgis Baltrušaitis Jr., an art historian and art critic, served as a diplomat for the Lithuanian diplomatic service which continued to represent Lithuanian interests in some Western countries. Baltrušaitis Sr. died in Paris in January 1944; he is buried at Montrouge Cemetery.

References

External links

*
Casimir Norkeliunas: the archival site of the works and scholarship, dedicated to Jurgis Kazimieras Baltrušaitis
* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baltrusaitis, Jurgis 1873 births 1944 deaths People from Jurbarkas District Municipality People from Rossiyensky Uyezd Ambassadors of Lithuania to Russia Lithuanian art critics Lithuanian diplomats Lithuanian male poets Symbolist poets Male poets from the Russian Empire Translators to Russian 19th-century Lithuanian poets 19th-century translators 19th-century Lithuanian male writers 20th-century Lithuanian translators Moscow State University alumni Imperial Moscow University alumni

Writer

Politician

See also

References

External links