Lithuanian book smugglers or Lithuanian book carriers ( lt, knygnešys, plural: lt, knygnešiaĩ, label=none) transported

Lithuanian language Lithuanian ( ) is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the official language of Lithuania and one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.8 mill ...

books printed in the

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and th ...

into Lithuanian-speaking areas of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, defying a ban on such materials in force from 1864 to 1904. In Lithuanian it literally means ''the one who carries the books''. Opposing imperial Russian authorities' efforts to replace the traditional Latin

orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and ...

with Cyrillic, and transporting printed matter from as far away as the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

to do so, the book smugglers became a symbol of Lithuanians' resistance to Russification.

History

Lithuanian book carrier Martynas Survila with his wife Ona, circa 1899

After the Polish-Lithuanian insurrection of 1863, the Russian Imperial government intensified its efforts to Russify the Lithuanian population and alienate it from its historic roots, including the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

faith, which had become widespread during the years of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

During the summer of 1863

Tsar Alexander II Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Fin ...

issued Temporary Rules for State Junior Schools of the Northwestern Krai, ruling that only Russian-language education would be allowed there. In 1864, the

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...

of the Vilnius 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 all Lithuanian-language use of the Latin alphabet. In 1866, the 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 ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

until 1904. During this time, there were approximately fifty-five printings of Lithuanian books in Cyrillic. Most of the Latin-alphabet Lithuanian-language books and periodicals published at the time were printed in

Lithuania Minor Lithuania Minor ( lt, Mažoji Lietuva; german: Kleinlitauen; pl, Litwa Mniejsza; russian: Ма́лая Литва́), or Prussian Lithuania ( lt, Prūsų Lietuva; german: Preußisch-Litauen, pl, Litwa Pruska), is a historical ethnographic re ...

and then smuggled into Lithuania. When caught, the book smugglers were punished by fines,

banishment Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

, and exile, including deportation to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

. Some were simply shot in the head while crossing the border or executed on the spot. In 1867,

Motiejus Valančius Motiejus Kazimieras Valančius ( pl, , also known by his pen-name ''Joteika'' and ''Ksiądz Maciek''; 1801–1875) was a Catholic Bishop of Samogitia, historian and one of the best known Lithuanian/Samogitian writers of the 19th century. Biogr ...

, the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of Žemaitija, began to covertly organize and finance this printing abroad and sponsored the distribution of Lithuanian-language books within Lithuania. In 1870, his organization was uncovered with the help of Prussian authorities, and five priests and two book smugglers were exiled to remote areas of Russia. Other book smugglers carried on his work. During the final years of the ban, an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 books were smuggled in annually. About one-third of them were seized by authorities. Lithuanian books reached every settlement in Lithuania, and many legal institutions served as undercover transfer points for the books. A number of secret organizations distributed the books throughout Lithuania, including ''Sietynas'', ''Atgaja'', ''Teisybė'', ''Prievarta'', ''Aušrinė'', ''Atžala'', ''Lizdas'', ''Akstinas'', ''Spindulys'', ''Svirplys'', ''Žiburėlis'', ''Žvaigždė'', and ''Kūdikis''. In East Prussia since 1864 up to 1896, more than 3 500 000 copies of publications in Lithuanian language was published: about 500 000 primers, more than 300 000 scientific secular editions, 75 000 newspapers and other types of publications. The ban's lack of success was recognized by the end of the 19th century, and in 1904, under the official pretext that the minorities within the Russian Empire needed to be pacified after the failure in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

, the ban on Lithuanian-language publications was lifted. In 1905, soon after the ban was lifted, one of the book smugglers, Juozas Masiulis, opened his own

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librar ...

Panevėžys Panevėžys (; Latin: ''Panevezen''; pl, Poniewież; yi, פּאָנעװעזש, ''Ponevezh''; see also other names) is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2011, it occupied with 113,653 inhabitants. As defined by Eurostat, the population ...

. This bookstore is still operational, and a chain of bookstores operates in Lithuania under his name. This historical episode was widely suppressed during the years when Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union.

Book smuggler societies

Lithuanian book smuggler sculpture (2018)

Remembrance

The book smugglers were an important part of the

Lithuanian National Revival The Lithuanian National Revival, alternatively the Lithuanian National Awakening or Lithuanian nationalism ( lt, Lietuvių tautinis atgimimas), was a period of the history of Lithuania in the 19th century at the time when a major part of Lithuania ...

. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, book smugglers were honored in Lithuania with museums, monuments, and street names. A statue dedicated to "The Unknown Book Smuggler" stands in Kaunas. Special relationship of Lithuanians and the book is still seen in the highly popular Vilnius Book Fair. It is also important to remember that Lithuanian book smugglers helped shape the future. They stood tall for their country and is now honored in many places still. Book smuggler Jurgis Bielinis, who created a secret distribution network for banned Lithuanian books, was born on 16 March 1846, and this date is commemorated in Lithuania as the Day of the Book Smugglers (''Knygnešio diena''). In 1988, the Lithuanian Knygnešiai Association was established at the Lithuanian Culture Foundation. Among its goals was to collect information about all Lithuanian book smugglers and printers. , four volumes titled ''Knygnešys'' were printed. In 1997, the "" was unveiled at the Vytautas the Great War Museum. and in 1998 a book ''Šimtas knygnešių. Knygnešių sienelės vardai'' ("One Hundred Books Smugglers. Names on the Book Smugglers' Wall") was published. During 1959–2000 there was a magazine named which provided information about (modern) books and book publishers. In 2018

London Book Fair The London Book Fair (LBF) is a large book-publishing trade fair held annually, usually in April, in London, England. LBF is a global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and di ...

the tactics of ''Knygnešiai'' was used to distribute books of the Lithuanian authors and spread the information about the Lithuanian pavilion.

Bibliography

* Ruseckas, Petras (1992–1997) ''Knygnešys : 1864–1904'' (Book-smuggler: 1864–1904) (3 vols.) Valstybinis leidybos centras, Vilnius, (Volumes 1 & 2, reprint, originally published: Spaudos fondas, Kaunas, 1926–1928) (in Lithuanian); * Merkys, Vytautas (1994) ''Knygnešių laikai: 1864–1904'' (The era of the book-smugglers: 1864–1904) Valstybinis leidybos centras, Vilnius, (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, (in Lithuanian); * Kaluškevičius, Benjaminas and Žemaitytė-Narkevičienė, Ona (1998) ''Šimtas knygnešių: knygnešių sienelės vardai'' (''One Hundred Book Carriers: The Names on the Book Carriers Wall'') Lietuvos kultūros fondas, Lietuvos Knygnešio draugija, Vilnius, (in Lithuanian);

References

External links

Statue entitled ''Knygnešys''
by

Juozas Zikaras Juozas Zikaras (November 18, 1881 – November 10, 1944) was a Lithuanian sculptor and artist, who created the design for pre-war Lithuanian litas coins. He is considered to be one of the first professional Lithuanian sculptors. Biography He was ...