Marijampolė Realgymnasium () was a private gymnasium (secondary school) in

Marijampolė Marijampolė (; also known by Marijampolė#Names, several other names) is the Capital city, capital of Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, and Lake Vištytis. The city's population stood ...

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 ...

. Established at the end of 1918, it employed many teachers sympathetic to socialist and communist causes. The

Communist Party of Lithuania The Communist Party of Lithuania (; ) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clandestinely until it was legalized in 1940 after the Soviet invasion and occupation. The party was ...

and other communist organizations were outlawed and actively persecuted in

interwar Lithuania In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

. The school actively protested and resisted mandatory religious education and clashed with Lithuanian authorities. As such, the school was shut down by the Lithuanian government on 30 June 1925.

Organization

The school was established by a 14-member committee. Its founders included the attorney

Andrius Bulota Andrius Bulota (; 16 November 1872 – 16 August 1941) was a Lithuanian lawyer and politician in the Russian Empire. He was a member of the Second and Third Russian State Dumas (1907–1912) and the Russian Constituent Assembly (1918). Educated ...

. It was officially established on 19 December 1918. The school was established as Lithuanian war refugees were returning from Russia and, influenced by the Russian Revolution, did not want to educate their children in the traditional

Marijampolė Gymnasium Marijampolė Rygiškių Jonas Gymnasium () is a secondary school in Marijampolė, Lithuania. It is named after Rygiškių Jonas, one of the pen names of linguist Jonas Jablonskis who was one of the gymnasium's alumni. Established in 1867, the gy ...

. It was a seven-year school, while other gymnasiums were eight-year schools. The school placed more emphasis on teaching math and natural sciences. It also taught Russian language (most other schools taught German, French, or English as a foreign language). The school was self-governing. It had teachers' council (where students had two representatives with voting rights), students' council, and parents' council. Students' council and their participation in school governance were new developments in Lithuania. In 1922, the Ministry of Education wrote to the school ordering it to stop student participation in the teachers' council. From June 1923, the school was maintained by the . In 1924, the Lithuanian government ceased financial support for the school. It struggled financially and was late to pay teachers' wages. A new law on secondary schools in Lithuania became effective on 23 April 1925. Two weeks later, on 6 May 1925, Minister of Education (who previously was the principal of the traditional

) issued order to close the school effective 30 June 1925. Jokantas cited the lack of the mandatory religious education and frequent arrests of students as the main reasons for the closure.

Activities

Religious education

Religious education was mandatory in Lithuania (it was codified in the 1922 Constitution of Lithuania). The religious class was supposed to be taught by a Catholic priest assigned by the Diocese of Sejny. The first priest assigned to the school, , lasted only a few days due to the anti-religious attitudes of other teachers and students. He was replaced by

Vincentas Borisevičius Vincentas Borisevičius (23 November 1887 – 18 November 1946) was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic bishop of the Telšiai Diocese. The process of his beatification was initiated in 1990. Born to a family of well-off Lithuanian farmers, Borisevičiu ...

and , but they lasted only a couple of months. Česaitis resigned in March 1920. He resigned in protest of school's attempts to excuse two students from attending the religion class because, according to the

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

, such education was mandatory to everyone. Since students did not have the mandatory credits in religion, they could not apply to a university. The Ministry of Education urged the Diocese of Sejny to assign a new priest, but the diocese delayed. A new priest, Antanas Steponaitis, was assigned only in August 1923. He resigned after

Jonas Šliūpas Jonas Šliūpas (6 March 1861 – 6 November 1944) was a prominent and prolific Lithuanian activist during the Lithuanian National Revival. For 35 years, he lived in the United States working to build national consciousness of Lithuanian American ...

delivered a lecture on free-thinking in October 1924. Steponaitis claimed that students disrespected him, defied directions, and ridiculed those who attempted to pray. The school attempted to get a new priest assigned, but the diocese refused to do so.

Amateur theater

The school hosted an amateur theater troupe. It was established in January 1920 by . In five years, the troupe staged 15 plays that were open to the public. The plays included Lithuanian works (''

America in the Bathhouse ''America in the Bathhouse'' () is a three-act comedy by Keturakis (pen name of brothers and ). The play was first published in 1895. It became the first Lithuanian-language play performed in public in present-day Lithuania when a group of Lithu ...

'' by Keturakis, ''Blinda'' by

Gabrielius Landsbergis-Žemkalnis Gabrielius Landsbergis-Žemkalnis (1852–1916) was a Lithuanian playwright and activists of the early Lithuanian amateur theater. Born to an old noble family, Landsbergis attended Šiauliai Gymnasium where his friend Petras Vileišis encourage ...

, ''Apsiriko'' by

Žemaitė Žemaitė (, , "Samogitian woman") was the pen name of Julija Beniuševičiūtė-Žymantienė ( – 7 December 1921). She was a Lithuanian/Samogitian writer, democrat and educator. Born to impoverished gentry, she became one of the major partici ...

) and international classics (''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

'' by

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

, ''

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897, and first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre, directed by Konstan ...

'' by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

, ''

The Government Inspector ''The Government Inspector'', also known as ''The Inspector General'' (, literally: "Inspector"), is a satirical play by Russian dramatist and novelist Nikolai Gogol. Originally published in 1836, the play was revised for an 1842 edition. Base ...

'' by

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...

). The school also hosted public lectures by prominent Lithuanians, including

, Vidūnas,

, .

Student societies

The gymnasium hosted several socialist and communist student organizations. In March 1920, organized a Marxist student organization. It was officially disbanded in March 1923, but continued to function until 1925. This student group maintained contacts with the

and

Lithuanian Komsomol The Leninist Young Communist League of Lithuania ( or LLKJS) or Lithuanian Komsomol () was the Lithuania, Lithuanian branch of the Soviet Union, Soviet Komsomol that served as the youth organ of the Communist Party of Lithuania. The organization w ...

. The school became one of the key locations 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 ...

'', a semi-formal socialist student movement.

Police troubles

Several students were arrested by the Lithuanian police. In 1921, the police arrested 20 people in Marijampolė in connection with the celebrations of May 1, the

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also called Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of Wage labour, labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every yea ...

. Among those arrested, were two students of the gymnasium. They were acquitted. In January 1923, communists organized the funeral of Juozas Janušauskas, leader of a local labor union who died in

Kaunas Prison Kaunas Prison () is a prison in the center of Kaunas, second largest city of Lithuania. As of 2007, it houses approximately 300 prisoners and employs around 230 prison guards. Most prisoners are there under temporary arrest awaiting court decis ...

. Catholics protested the funeral as they did not want to allow the burial of a "godless" man in the town's cemetery and communists clashed with the police. On 24–25 January 1923, the police arrested 13 students. This case was discussed at the

Second Seimas of Lithuania The Second Seimas of Lithuania was the second parliament (Seimas) democratically elected in Lithuania after it declared independence on February 16, 1918. It was the only regular interwar Seimas which completed its full three-year term from May 19 ...

. In November 1923, the Ministry of Education prohibited political student organizations in schools. However, that did not stop students' political activities and only forced them to be more secretive. On 12–13 January 1925, the police searched the student dormitory maintained by

Žiburėlis Žiburėlis (diminutive of ''žiburys'' meaning 'light', 'beacon') later Lietuvos žiburėlis was a charitable society providing financial aid to gifted Lithuanian students. The society grew out of the Lithuanian National Revival, hopes of creat ...

society as well as the apartment of teacher

Stasys Matulaitis Stasys Matulaitis (24 October 1866 – 10 April 1956) was an activist of the Lithuanian National Revival who became one of the leaders of the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania. He later joined the Communist Party of Lithuania and became a hist ...

. They found antigovernmental literature and hand grenades. Matulaitis and several students were arrested. Two members of the Seimas accused the police for torture during the interrogations (beating and electrocution) of the arrested students. This was denied by the Minister of Education .

Notable personnel

School principals were: * Due to difficult financial situation, at first the school did not have a principal * (December 1919 – September 1923) * Stasys Totorius Notable teachers included: *

(religion) * * *

Petronėlė Lastienė Petronėlė Lastienė Sirutytė (9 August 1897 – 29 November 1981) was a Lithuanian teacher and university professor. She was recognized as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for rescuing Jewish children from the Kaunas Ghetto during the H ...

(history) *

(biology, history, geography) *

Notable alumni

Notable alumni included:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marijampole Realgymnasium Educational institutions established in 1918 Educational institutions established in 1925 Buildings and structures in Marijampolė 1918 establishments in Lithuania 1925 disestablishments in Lithuania History of education in Lithuania