Jonas Basanavičius
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Jonas Basanavičius (pronunciation ) (b. 23 November 1851, Ožkabaliai - d. 16 February 1927, Vilnius) was an activist and proponent of Lithuania's National Revival movement, founder of the first Lithuanian language newspaper Auszra. He was one of the initiators and the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 1905 Congress of Lithuanians, the Great Seimas of Vilnius. He was a founder and a chairman of the Lithuanian Science Society (1907).
As a member of Council of Lithuania, he was a signator of the Act of Independence of Lithuania on February 16, 1918. Basanavičius is often given a unique informal honorific title of "Patriarch of the Nation" (Lithuanian: tautos patriarchas) for his merits to the Lithuanian state.
[edit] Biography
After matriculating at the Marijampolė gymnasium between 1866 and 1873, he continued his studies at Moscow University, majoring in history and philology. He later transferred to the Academy of Medicine. After acquiring his diploma in 1879, he worked in the Lithuanian cities of Ožkabaliai, Vilkaviškis and Aleksotas, and in 1878 moved to Bulgaria working as a doctor and the head of a hospital in Lom Palanka city.
In 1882, Dr. Basanavičius left Bulgaria for Prague and Vienna, where he worked as a doctor and continued advanced studies in medicine. It was in Prague, after meeting Czech national movement activists, that he decided to publish "Auszra" newspaper. And it was a dawn seen in Prague, that suggested the name of the newspaper.
Returning to Bulgaria in 1884, he practiced as a physician in Elena, Lom Palanka and Varna, and participated in Varna's political activities, representing the Democratic party of Bulgaria in the Varna City Council and the Varna Democratic Party in the Congresses of 1903 in Sofia, and in 1905, Adrianopol and Istanbul.
In 1905, he returned to Lithuania where he edited the influential newspaper, Aušra, and continued to play an important role in the Lithuanian national revival, culminating with the Lithuanian Declaration of Independence in 1918.
Dr. Basanavičius explored Lithuanian history, culture, folklore, and linguistics, writing more than forty works in these fields.
He died in Vilnius on February 16, 1927, Lithuanian Independence Day, and was buried in Rasos Cemetery.
[edit] Notes and references
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- General:
- (Lithuanian) "Basanavičius, Jonas". Encyclopedia Lituanica I: 307-310. (1970-1978). Ed. Simas Sužiedėlis. Boston, Massachusetts: Juozas Kapočius. LCC 74-114275
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