Kazys Binkis
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Kazys Binkis (1893 - 1942) - Lithuanian poet, journalist, and playwright. He used the pseudonyms K.Alijošius, K. Papilietis, Kazys, Kazys Roviejietis, Nedarbininkas, Neklaipėdietis, Nelatvis, Nepartyvis, Ras Desta, Riza Chanas and others.
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[edit] Biography
Kazys Binkis was born on November 4, 1893 in the village of Gudeliai in the district of Biržai. He attended the primary school at Papilys (finished it in 1908), studied at the Saulė (The Sun) courses for teachers and at Biržai progymnasium. In 1910 he entered school of agriculture in Voronec (near Švenčionys), but for the lack of funds moved to Vilnius in 1913 and began to prepare himself privately for maturity examinations. Since 1909 K.Binkis began to publish scenes in prose and verses in Viltis (The Hope), Vaivorykštė (The Rainbow), and Pirmasis baras (The First Field). In 1915 he graduated from the teachers' courses of the Lithuanian Committee in Vilnius and became a teacher at Papilys. In 1918 Binkis was elected a chairman of the Biržai District Council. In 1919 he was appointed a secretary of editorial board of the journal Liepsna (The Flame) in Vilnius. In the same year he moved to Kaunas. There he worked at the press bureau, volunteered to the Geležinis Vilkas (The Iron Wolf) regiment and participated in concerts. In 1920-1923 he studied, with interruptions, literature and philosophy at Berlin University. At the same time he took part in the literary movement Keturi vėjai (The Four Winds), being the leader of the budding Lithuanian futurism (1922-1928) [1].
He made his living from the literary work. In 1922, together with other authors, he published an almanac The Prophet of the Four Winds; in 1924 he organized a journal Keturi vėjai. He arranged the anthologies of Lithuanian folk poetry and songs. He also worked at the Society of Lithuanian Writers, for some years was a member of its board, participated in the edition of Literatūros naujienos (The News of Literature) and worked as a journalist [2].
Binkis died on April 27, 1942 in Kaunas', Petrašiūnai Cemetery.
[edit] Literary works
The heritage of Binkis's works is not large, but in all fields he achieved significant results. He wrote humorous and satirical poems, rhymed feuilletons, and published poetry books for children [3].
In 1920 his first collection of poems Eilėraščiai (The Poems) was published. This collection of lyrical poems is one of the best works of Lithuanian poetry of this time. During the studies in Berlin Binkis was influenced by modernist poetry and he created modernist Keturi vėjai literary movement. Keturi vėjai did not leave great literary works but broke the rutine, brought new literary forms, and this way made big impact on Lithuanian poetry. In 1923 (second edition in 1926) he published his second, futurist, collection of poems 100 pavasarių (One Hundred Springs). He created Keturi vėjai and he left it one of the first. From 1927 to 1931 Binkis published humorous poems in various periodicals, some of them were published as separate books. Tamošius Bekepuris ir kitos Alijošiaus dainuškos was published in 1928, Kriaučius Motiejus (Tailor Motiejus) was published in 1947 [1].
He debuted as a play writer in 1938 with a piece Atžalynas (The Undergrowth). Encouraged by the success of his debut, he started writing a new play Generalinė repeticija (General Repetition) which he did not complete. Generalinė repeticija has bigger ambitions, different form, and composition. Generalinė repeticija was first time staged abroad, in Hanau camp in 1948, and first time published in 1958 in Pergalė journal. In Lithuania it was first time staged in 1959 (Ostrauskas:1997).
