Knygnešiai

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Motiejus Valančius

Knygnešiai (singular: knygnešys) were book smugglers who brought Lithuanian books in Latin print into Lithuania from 1866 to 1904. Knygnešys is from a Lithuanian word with no other direct counterpart in English, with the literal translation of the parts of the word (knyga book + nešti carrier) coming to mean "book smuggler". The word refers to people who were smuggling printed material across the border from Lithuania Minor, a part of (East Prussia) into the Lithuanian speaking areas of Imperial Russia, where Lithuanian language print in Latin alphabet had been banned. Knygnešiai became a symbol of the resistance of the Lithuanians against the Russification policy.

After the Polish/Lithuanian insurrection of 1863, the Russian Imperial government intensified the efforts to turn the Lithuanian lands from the Polish Catholic influence and effectively Russify them.

In summer of 1863 Tsar issued "Temporary Rules for State Junior Schools of the Northwestern Krai, which said that only Russian language education was to be allowed in them. It 1864 the Governor General of Vilno Governorate, Mikhail Muravyov ordered that Lithuanian language primers were to be printed only in the Cyrillic alphabet. Muravyov' s successor, Konstantin Kaufman, in 1865 banned on all Lithuanian language print in the Latin alphabet. In 1866 Tsar issued an oral ban on the printing or importing of printed matter in Lithuanian. Although formally, the order had no legal force, it was executed de facto until 1904. During this time there were approximately 55 printings of Lithuanian books in Cyrillic fonts.

Most of the Latin typeface Lithuanian language books and all periodicals published at the time were printed in Lithuania Minor and then smuggled into Lithuania. When caught, knygnešiai were punished by fines, banishment and exile, including the exile to Siberia. Some of them were shot crossing the border.

In 1867, Motiejus Valančius, the Bishop of Samogitia, was the first to undertake the organization of printing abroad and the illegal distribution. In 1870 his organization was uncovered, with the help of Prussian authorities, and 5 priests and two knygnešiai were exiled to remote areas of Russia. But this did not stop the work of other knygnešiai.

During the last years of ban an estimated 30,000-40,000 books were smuggled in annually. About one third of them were seized by authorities.

Gradually the failure of the ban was recognized, and in 1904, under the official pretext of the reconciliation of the population of the Russian Empire in view of the Russo-Japanese War, the ban on Lithuanian presses was lifted.

This episode of Lithuanian history was suppressed during the Soviet Union years. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, knygnešiai were commemorated in Lithuania in museums, monuments and street names. A statue to the unknown book smuggler stands in Kaunas.

Knygnešys Jurgis Bielinis, who created a distribution network for banned Lithuanian books, was born in 16 March 1846. This day in Lithuania is remembered as the "Day of the Knygnešiai".

[edit] References

Ruseckas, Petras (1992-1997) Knygnešys : 1864-1904 (Booksmuggler: 1864-1904) (3 vols.) Valstybinis leidybos centras, Vilnius, ISBN 998681006X (Volumes 1 & 2, reprint, originally published: Spaudos fondas, Kaunas, 1926-1928) (in Lithuanian);
Merkys, Vytautas (1994) Knygnešių laikai: 1864-1904 (The era of the booksmugglers: 1864-1904) Valstybinis leidybos centras, Vilnius, ISBN 9986090180 (in Lithuanian);
Merkys, Vytautas (1994) Draudžiamosios lietuviškos spaudos kelias: 1864-1904: informacinė knyga (The path of the banned Lithuanian press: 1864-1904: An information book) Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla, Vilnius, ISBN 5420011816 (in Lithuanian);
Kaluškevičius, Benjaminas and Žemaitytė-Narkevičienė, Ona (1998) Šimtas knygnešių: knygnešių sienelės vardai Lietuvos kultūros fondas, Lietuvos Knygnešio draugija, Vilnius, ISBN 9986917506 (in Lithuanian);
Čiplytės, Joana Vigos (2005) Juozas Masiulis: knygnešys ir knygininkas Žara, Vilnius, ISBN 9986-34-140-X (in Lithuanian);