Jonas Biliunas

 

Photos by Danute Mukiene, 2003

 

JONAS BILIUNAS (1879-1907), writer, born in the Niuronys, county of Ukmerge, on March 3, 1879. From 1891-1899 he attended secondary school in Liepaja, Latvia, where he Jonas Blliunas participated in various Lithuanian social and cultural activities of a socialist nature. In 1900 he began to write for clandestine publications of a so cialist orientation under various pseudonyms, e.g., J. Barzdyla, J. Anykstenas, Jonas Grazys, and others. In 1900 he enrolled as a medical student at the University of Tartu (then Dorpat), Estonia; however, in 1901 he was expelled for anti-Tsarist activities. He returned to Lithuania, living in Siauliai from 1901-1902 and in Panevezys from 1902-1903. Here he became even more involved in underground social and cultural work: he contributed articles to the press and published a number of political pamphlets and popular brochures on scientific subjects. He tried unsuccessfully to return to the University of Tartu. Since he was denied the right to study at any university in Russia, he went to Leipzig, Germany, where he enrolled in a higher school of commerce (the Handelshoch-schule). His program of studies included a course with Wilhelm Wundt. At this time he became increasingly interested in literature, including the history of Lithuanian literature and creative writing. Consequently, he transferred to the University of Leipzig in 1904 after only one semester at the commercial school. He studied literature and also attended a seminar in the Lithuanian language given by August Leskien. In failing health (the first symptoms of tuberculosis had appeared while he was in Tartu), he returned to Lithuania in the summer of 1904. In the fall of that year he again went abroad and enrolled at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, to continue his study of literature. After 1904 he developed an interest in religion, and his political interests gave way to a general humanistic outlook. He eventually disengaged himself from social and political activities altogether and concentrated exclusively on literary work. In the spring of 1905 he returned to spend his vacation in Lithuania, where his health declined further so that he was unable to go back to his studies. In the fall of 1905 he was admitted to a tuberculosis sanatorium in the Carpathian mountain resort of Zakopane, Poland, where, except for a summer spent in Lithuania in 1906, he lived until his death on Dec. 8, 1907. In accordance with his wishes, after World War I attempts were made to transfer his remains to his native hamlet. This was finally accomplished, however, only in 1953.

The life of Biliunas was a short one, and his literary achievements are correspondingly scanty, especially since he became increasingly critical and demanding of himself as he matured as a writer: he wrote slowly and rewrote
carefully. The major part of his work consists of approximately 30 short stories, which often contain autobiographical elements. The short stories of his first period (1900-1903) are written in the realistic style then prevalent in Lithuanian prose. Among these are Per sapną (Through a Dream), Pirmutinis streikas (The First Strike), and Be darbo (Out of Work). Their literary value is negligible: generally, these stories were no more than the raw material of social criticism and unem-bellished socialist propositions, presented in a rather tendentious manner.
The short stories of his second period (1904-1907, especially from 1905) are entirely different. They reflect the new interests and changed spiritual state
of the author. The most noteworthy works of this period are the miniatures Kliudziau (I Hit the Mark) and Brisiaus galas (The End of Brisius); Ant Uetlibergo giedra (Fair Weather on the Uetliberg), descriptive fragment on the landscape of Switzerland; Laimes Ziburys (The Light of Happiness), a romanticized allegory; the short stories Nemunu (Along the Nemunas), Joniukas (Johnny), Piestupys, and Ubagas (The Beggar); Zvaigzde (The Star) and Lazda (The Walking Stick), which are set in the era of serfdom; and finally, Liudna pasaka (A Sad Tale), 1906-1907, which is the longest, most fully developed, and most sublime of the works of Biliunas. Liudna pasaka treats the tragedy of a woman who is driven by the consequences of the uprising of 1863 to psychological ruin. These stories are written in a pithy, precise style, with lyrical emotion; the works are pervaded by the melancholic mood characteristic of Biliunas. The most significant feature of his work, however, is his departure
from realism. Biliunas tends toward aestheticism and he attempts to give
psychological interpretations of human behavior and emotions. Thus he occupies a significant place in the development of the new Lithuanian prose. Biliunas also endeavored to write poetry. Between 1900-1902 and in 1905 he wrote some 15 poems, among them, influenced by Petrarca, several sonnets. However, his poetry is considerably inferior to his prose. More significant than his poems are several articles of literary criticism which demonstrate considerable erudition, critical perception, and taste. The major part of his critical work, however, was published
posthumously.

Four books of his writings were published during Biliunas' lifetime, namely,
Ivairus apsakymeliai (Various Short Stories), 1906; a collection containing Lazda, Ubagas, Sveciai (The Guests), and Brisiaus galas, 1906; a volume con-
taining Piestupys and Joniukas, 1906; and Liudna pasaka, bearing the date 1908 but actually published in 1907. Among the posthumous collections the following are noteworthy: Paveikslai, apysakos, eiles (Sketches, Short Stories, and Verse), 1913; Beletristika (Literary Works), 1937, and ed., 1946; Rastai (Works), 1947; Lazda, 1959. Translations of selected short stories have appeared in Russian (Svetoch schastia, 1964) and Polish (Opowiadania, 1953). The most exhaustive (although not entirely complete) collection of Biliunas' works is Rastai (ed. M. Luksiene), 2 vols., 1954.