Antanas Venclova Lithuanian poet, prose writer, critic, translator, statesman. Date of Birth: 07.01.1906 Country: Lithuania

1. Early Life and Education
2. Literary Career
3. Political Involvement
4. Literary and Cultural Contributions
5. Later Years and Legacy

Early Life and Education

Antanas Tomasovič Venclova was born on January 7, 1906, in the village of Trempiniai, then part of Russian Empire and now located in the Marijampolė County of Lithuania. He hailed from a peasant family. In 1925, he graduated from high school in Marijampolė. From 1925 to 1929, he served in the Department of Land Reform in Kaunas.

In 1932, Venclova completed his studies at the Faculty of Humanities at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. He went on to teach at a secondary school in Kaunas from 1933 to 1934 and at a school in Klaipėda from 1934 to 1939.

Literary Career

Venclova began his literary endeavors in 1926. His first collections of poems, "In the Twilight Alleys" (1926) and "Dawn on the Streets" (1927), criticized the Lithuanian bourgeois society and the petty bourgeoisie.

He also published numerous works of prose in Lithuanian, including short story collections such as "The Road to Lithuania" (1942), "From a Wartime Notebook" (1943), and "The Tree and Its Shoots" (1948). His poetry collections include "Where the Apple Tree Is Tall" (1945), "The Call of the Homeland" (1942), and "The Youth of the Country" (1948).

Venclova's anti-fascist stance was evident in his novel "Friendship" (1936) and his short story collection "Night" (1939). His novel "Birthday" depicted the establishment of Soviet power in Lithuania.

Political Involvement

Venclova joined the Communist Party of Lithuania in 1950. In 1940, he became a member of the People's Seimas and participated in the session of the Supreme Soviet in Moscow that admitted Lithuania into the USSR.

He served as the People's Commissar of Education of the Lithuanian SSR from 1940 to 1943 and as an associate professor at Kaunas State University from 1944 to 1946. He became a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Lithuanian SSR in 1949 and a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania.

In 1950, Venclova wrote the lyrics for the anthem of the Lithuanian SSR. He was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR and of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 1941 to 1962.

Literary and Cultural Contributions

Venclova's literary output extended beyond poetry and prose. He also wrote literary criticism, war memoirs, and travelogues. He translated numerous works of Russian, Soviet, and foreign literature into Lithuanian, including Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin" and "The Bronze Horseman," Kataev's "The Lonely White Sail," and Rabelais' "Gargantua and Pantagruel."

Later Years and Legacy

Venclova died on June 28, 1971, and was buried in the Memorial Ensemble to the Soviet Soldiers of the Great Patriotic War in Antakalnis.

His former apartment in Vilnius, where he lived from 1945 to 1971, has been converted into the Venclova Family Memorial House-Museum. It showcases his study and provides insights into the life of the Lithuanian intelligentsia during the 1940s and 1950s.

Venclova's works have been translated into Latvian, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, and other languages. His contributions to Lithuanian literature, politics, and culture continue to be celebrated.