Simonas Tadas Stanevičius (; 26 October 1799 in Kanopėnai near Viduklė – 10 March 1848 in Stemplės near Švėkšna) 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 and an activist of the "Samogitian Revival", an early stage of the

Lithuanian National Revival The Lithuanian National Revival, alternatively the Lithuanian National Awakening or Lithuanian nationalism (), was a period of the history of Lithuania in the 19th century, when a major part of Lithuanian-inhabited areas belonged to the Russian ...

Biography

Born to a family of petty nobles, as a son of Stanisław Staniewicz and Barbara Rymkiewicz. Stanevičius studied at the Jesuit gymnasium in Kražiai from 1817 to 1821. For a year he worked in Kražiai as a private teacher, before enrolling into the Art and Literature Department of

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 ...

. There he was influenced by democratic ideas of professors such as Joachim Lelewel and Ignacy Onacewicz. Stanevičius joined a cultural movement to promote the

Lithuanian language Lithuanian (, ) is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of t ...

. After graduation in 1826, he stayed in Vilnius, working as a private tutor and preparing his works for publication. In 1829, he published three of his works (a grammar book, collection of folk songs, and his fables). Stanevičius then moved to

Raseiniai Raseiniai (; Samogitian dialect, Samogitian: ''Raseinē'') is a city in Lithuania. It is located on the south eastern foothills of the Samogitians highland, some north from the A1 highway (Lithuania), Kaunas–Klaipėda highway. History Grand ...

and lived in the Plater estate, managing their private library. During the Uprising of 1830, Stanevičius traveled to

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

where he met with Ludwig Rhesa and collected materials for future publications. After the death of his patron Jerzy Plater in 1836, Stanevičius moved to the estate of Jerzy's brother Kazimierz Plater in Stemplės. There Stanevičius continued to care for the 3,000-piece library until his death from

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 ...

in 1848.

Works

In 1829, inspired by

Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder ( ; ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a Prussian philosopher, theologian, pastor, poet, and literary critic. Herder is associated with the Age of Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. He wa ...

, Stanevičius published ''Dainos žemaičių'' (''Songs of the Samogitians''), a sample of 30 of the most artistic and valuable

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 ...

folk songs Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...

from his 150-song collection. Four years later he published an addendum (''Pažymės žemaitiškos gaidos'') with melodies for these songs. He is best remembered for the publication of ''Šešios pasakos'' (''Six Fables''), a book of six

fable Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a parti ...

s and

ode An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...

s ''Žemaičių šlovė'' (''The Samogitians' Glory'') written by Stanevičius himself. Two fables borrowed plots from

Aesop Aesop ( ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE; formerly rendered as Æsop) was a Greeks, Greek wikt:fabulist, fabulist and Oral storytelling, storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence re ...

and the other four mixed the author's own ideas with Samogitian folklore. The most important fables are ''Aitvarai'' (a type of household spirit in

Lithuanian mythology Lithuanian mythology () is the mythology of Lithuanians, Lithuanian polytheism, the religion of pre-Christian Lithuanians. Like other Indo-European studies, Indo-Europeans, Lithuanians (tribe), ancient Lithuanians maintained a polytheistic myth ...

) and ''Arklys ir meška'' (''The Horse and the Bear'' – symbols of the Aukštaitians and Samogitians respectively) as they depict the worldview, values, and culture of everyday Samogitian peasants. Stanevičius lived in an era of rising

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

, but his works are more Realistic due to his close contacts with the peasantry. The ode, the first example of this genre in the Lithuanian language, celebrated growing interest in the Lithuanian language and history at Vilnius University. Towards the end of his life, Stanevičius took an academic interest in the Lithuanian language, history, and mythology. His unfinished manuscript, written in Polish, on Lithuanian history was titled: ''Wyjaśnienie Mythologii Litewskiej, zawartej w dziełach Hartknocha, Stryjkowskiego, Łasickiego, tudzież w słownikach litewskich Szyrwida, Ruhiga i Mieleckiego. Przez Szymona Staniewicz Kolleg. Sekretarza''. It was partially published only in 1893 and fully in 1967, but is significant as the first critical history of Lithuania and first scholarly analysis of the Lithuanian mythology. In contrast to Dionizas Poška or Simonas Daukantas, who searched for glorious and idealized history, Stanevičius carefully studied, validated, and cited his sources, remaining truthful to the facts, and was not afraid to reject romantic legends. He heavily criticized

Teodor Narbutt Teodor Narbutt (; 8 November 1784 – 27 November 1864) was a Polish–Lithuanian romantic historian and military engineer in service of the Russian Empire. He is best remembered as the author of a nine-volume Polish-language history of Lithuani ...

and Maciej Stryjkowski as inaccurate. Stanevičius debunked many of the romantic legends, especially in the area of Lithuanian mythology, including the romantic notion of the ancient Romuva temple and connections drawn between

Roman gods The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts, integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin literature, Roman art, and relig ...

and Lithuanian gods.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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Full text of ''Six Fables''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanevicius, Simonas 1799 births 1848 deaths Lithuanian writers 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Vilnius University alumni Tuberculosis deaths in the Russian Empire Lithuanian writers in Polish Writers from the Russian Empire in Polish