Saulius Šaltenis (born 24 December 1945) is 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, newspaper editor, and politician. In 1990, he was among those who signed the

Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania The Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Act of 11 March () was an Declaration of independence, independence declaration by Lithuania adopted on 11 March 1990, signed by all members of the Supreme Council – Reconstituent Se ...

. He served as the

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

from 1996 to 1999 in the Government of Gediminas Vagnorius

Biography

Šaltenis was born into a family of Lithuanian teachers in

Utena Utena () is a city in north-east Lithuania. It is the administrative center of Utena district and Utena County. Utena is one of the oldest settlements of Lithuania. The name of the city is most probably derived from a hydronym. The name of the ...

, Lithuanian SSR. He attended Utena Secondary School No. 2 from 1963 to 1964 and studied philology at

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 ...

while working as a laborer at the Vilnius Drill Factory. After his freshman year, he was drafted into the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

and did not continue his studies after his return. From 1969 to 1972 worked on the editorial board at the Lithuanian Film Studios. In 1989 co-founded the weekly magazine ''Šiaurės Atėnai'' with Arvydas Juozaitis and and was its editor from 1990 to 1994. From 1994 to 1996, he was the editor-in-chief at the news daily ''

Lietuvos aidas ''Lietuvos aidas'' (literally: ''Echo of Lithuania'') is a daily newspaper in Lithuania. It was established on September 6, 1917, by Antanas Smetona, and became the semi-official voice of the newly formed Lithuanian government. When the government ...

''. Šaltenis has been a member of the Lithuanian Writers' Union since 1971, and a member of the presidium of this union since 1986. He is also a board member of the Lithuanian Cinematographer's Union, as well as a member of the Journalist's Society and of the Lithuanian Citizens' Charter.

Political career

In 1988, Šaltenis joined the pro-independence

Sąjūdis The Sąjūdis (, ), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania (), is a political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was established on 3 June 1988 as the first oppositi ...

(Lithuanian Reform Movement) and was elected to the Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas, becoming a signatory of the

. He was reelected to the

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of Government of Lithuania, govern ...

until 2000. He served as the Minister of Culture from 1996 to 1999 in the Government of Gediminas Vagnorius. Until 2000, he was also vice-chairman of the Homeland Union (Lithuanian Conservatives).

Writing career

Šaltenis's first stories were published in 1963 in the cultural journal '' Literatūra ir menas''. In 1966, he published his first book, a collection of short stories titled ''Atostogos'' (Holidays). He co-wrote the first Lithuanian musicals '' Fire Hunt with Beaters'' ('); 1976) with the prose writer and ''Komunarų gatvė'' (''Communard Street''; 1978) with Sigitas Geda. He wrote the script for the film version of his story ''Riešutų duona'' (''Hazelut Bread''), as well as for the films ''Skrydis per Lietuvą'' (''Flight over Lithuania'') and ''Herkus Mantas'' (English title: ''

Northern Crusades The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Christianization campaigns undertaken by Catholic Church, Catholic Christian Military order (society), military orders and kingdoms, primarily against the paganism, pagan Balts, Baltic, Baltic Finns, ...

''). In 2017, he wrote the script for Eimuntas Nekrošius's staging of his story ''Kalės vaikai'' (''Children of a Bitch''). In 2020, he won the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts.

Published works

* Atostogos: apsakymai. – Vilnius: Vaga, 1966. – 75 p. * Riešutų duona; Henrikas Montė: apysakos / dail. Vladislovas Žilius. – Vilnius: Vaga, 1972. – 176 p.: iliustr. * Duokiškis: apysaka. – Vilnius: Vaga, 1977. – 65 p. * Škac, mirtie, visados škac! ; Jasonas: pjesės. – Vilnius: Vaga, 1978. – 141 p. * Atminimo cukrus: apsakymai ir apysaka. – Vilnius: Vaga, 1983. – 187 p. * Apysakos / dail. Elvyra Kriaučiūnaitė. – Vilnius: Vaga, 1986. – 251 p. * Lituanica; Duokiškio baladės: pjesės / iliustr. Henrikas Ratkevičius. – Vilnius: Vaga, 1989. – 162 p. – * Kalės vaikai: romanas. – Vilnius: Vaga, 1990. – 194 p. – * Pokalbiai prieš aušrą: publicistika. – Vilnius: Lietuvos aidas, 1995. – 184 p. – * Riešutų duona: apysakos ir apsakymai / sud. Kęstutis Urba. – Kaunas: Šviesa, 2003. – 174 p. – * Kalės vaikai: rinktinė. – Vilnius: Žaltvykslė, 2006. – 415 p. – * Pjesės / parengė Agnė Iešmantaitė. – Vilnius: Žaltvykslė, 2006. – 111 p. – * Kalės vaikai: romanas / parengė Agnė Iešmantaitė. – Vilnius: Žaltvykslė, 2006. – 115 p. – * Proza: novelės ir apysakos / parengė Agnė Iešmantaitė. – Vilnius: Žaltvykslė, 2006. – 129 p. – * Lietuvių grotesko ir ironijos dramos: Juozas Grušas, Kazys Saja, Saulius Šaltenis: skaitiniai / sud. Agnė Iešmantaitė. – Vilnius: Žaltvykslė, 2007. – 223 p. – * Demonų amžius: proza ir dramaturgija. – Vilnius: Tyto alba, 2014. – 295 p. – * Žydų karalaitės dienoraštis: romanas. – Vilnius: Tyto alba, 2015. – 150 p. – * Basas ir laimingas: romanas. – Vilnius: Tyto alba, 2016. – 211 p. – * Diary of a Jewish Girl: novel / trans. Marija Marcinkute. – Nottingham, UK: Noir Press, 2020. – 176 p. – * Geležiniai gyvatės kiaušiniai: romanas. – Vilnius: Tyto alba, 2020. – 197 p. – * Bees on the Snow (Kalės vaikai): novel / trans. by Elizabeth Novickas. – Flossmoor, IL: Pica Pica Press, 2021. 158 p. –

External links

2016 interview (in English)

References

1945 births Living people Ministers of culture of Lithuania Members of the Seimas Homeland Union politicians Lithuanian writers Lithuanian newspaper editors {{short description, Lithuanian writer