Jonas Vileišis
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Jonas Vileišis (January 3, 1872 – June 1, 1942) was a
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
n lawyer, politician, and
diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...
.


Early life and career

Vileišis was born in Mediniai, near Pasvalys. In 1892 he graduated from the Šiauliai Gymnasium. During 1892-1894, he studied
physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
and
mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
at Saint Petersburg University. Later he transferred to the study of
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
, graduating in 1898. As a student he began contributing to the newspapers ''
Varpas ''Varpas'' (literally: ''The Bell'') was a monthly Lithuanian-language newspaper published during the Lithuanian press ban from January 1889 to December 1905. Because its publication was illegal in Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire, it w ...
'' (''The Bell'') and ''
Ūkininkas ''Ūkininkas'' or ''Ukinįkas'' (literally: ''The Farmer'') was a monthly Lithuanian-language newspaper published during the Lithuanian press ban by the editorial staff of ''Varpas'' from 1890 to 1905. ''Ūkininkas'' was printed in Tilsit (current ...
'' (''The Farmer''). From 1896 to 1898 he was a member of the
Social Democratic Party of Lithuania The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (, LSDP) is a centre-left and social democratic political party in Lithuania. Founded as an underground Marxist organisation in 1896, it is the oldest extant party in Lithuania. During the time of the ...
. After returning to Lithuania, he began practicing law and joined the ''12 Apostles'' organization, dedicated to defending the right to use the
Lithuanian language Lithuanian (, ) is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of t ...
in print, which was banned at the time. In 1902 he participated in the creation of the Lithuanian Democratic Party. After the ban on Lithuanian language was lifted in 1904, Vileišis obtained permission to publish the newspaper '' Lietuvos Ūkininkas'' and was its editor-in-chief from 1905 to 1906. From 1907 to 1909, he served as the publisher of '' Vilniaus žinios'' (''Vilnius News'') and, after it was banned, published and edited '' Lietuvos Žinios'' (''Lithuanian News''). He was one of the organizers of the
Great Seimas of Vilnius The Great Seimas of Vilnius (, also known as the ''Great Assembly of Vilnius'', the ''Grand Diet of Vilnius'', or the ''Great Diet of Vilnius'') was a major assembly held on December 4 and 5, 1905 (November 21–22, 1905 Old Style and New Style d ...
in 1905, and an organizer of the Lithuanian Science Society in 1907. At the beginning of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Vileišis co-founded a Lithuanian organization aimed at helping war victims with agronomic and legal support, and became its chairman. He was also an active member of the Lithuanian Committee. Six schools were established by Vileišis in the Alanta district. As a member of the Lithuanian Science Society he organized the publication of school textbooks. For distributing anti-
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
fliers among teachers, he was jailed in the Lukiškės Prison for six months and later to Germany for forced labor. In
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
he managed to escape from prison, and he went into hiding until he was given permission to return to Lithuania.


Political career

From 1917 to 1920, Vileišis participated in the work of the
Council of Lithuania In the history of Lithuania, the Council of Lithuania (; ; ), after July 11, 1918, the State Council of Lithuania () was convened at the Vilnius Conference that took place between 18 and 23 September 1917. The twenty men who composed the c ...
. He was the only member to oppose the Declaration of Independence of December 11, 1917, in which Lithuania promised to be Germany's satellite. Vileišis was one of the four members of the Council to resign on January 26, 1918, on the grounds that the Council of Lithuania had no right to usurp the rights of the
Constituent Assembly of Lithuania The Constituent Assembly of Lithuania or Constituent Seimas () was the first parliament of the independent state of Lithuania to be elected in a direct, democratic, general, secret election. The Assembly assumed its duties on 15 May 1920 and was ...
, and that its authority only applied to the determination of Lithuania's future and model of the state. All twenty members of the Council voted on February 16 to the new edition brought by four members (Jonas Vileišis, Mykolas Biržiška, Steponas Kairys and Stanisław Narutowicz), that returned with new edition of Act of Independence of Lithuania. A few days afterward, together with
Justinas Staugaitis Justinas Staugaitis (14 November 1866 near Šakiai – 8 July 1943, Telšiai) was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic bishop, politician, educator, and author. He was one of the twenty signatories to the Act of Independence of Lithuania. Biography ...
and
Jurgis Šaulys Jurgis Šaulys (; 5 May 1879–18 October 1948) was a Lithuanian economist, diplomat, and politician, and one of the twenty signatories to the 1918 Act of Independence of Lithuania. Šaulys attended Palanga Progymnasium and Vilnius St. J ...
, he left for Germany to seek recognition of Lithuanian independence. From 1917 to 1922 he was a member of the Lithuanian Popular Socialist Democratic Party; from 1922 to 1929 he was a member of the Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union. In 1929 he resigned the post of Chairman of the Central Committee and from the party. He was invited to serve in the First Cabinet of Lithuania, although he refused. On December 18, 1918, he became Minister of Internal Affairs in the Second Cabinet of Lithuania. While working as a minister he organized municipalities, appointed physicians to every county of Lithuania, and published laws governing
cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...
s and army recruitment. Vileišis resigned, along with the entire cabinet, on March 12, 1919. The Fourth Cabinet of Lithuania (June 12–October 2, 1919) appointed Vileišis Minister of Finance. He prepared a plan for Lithuanian
currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...
reform, although it was not implemented. In 1919 he was sent as an
ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...
to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, where he worked to obtain recognition of the state ''
de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...
'' and establish financial and trade relations. He also solicited donations from the
Lithuanian-American Lithuanian Americans refer to Americans, American citizens and residents of Lithuanians, Lithuanian descent or were born in Lithuania. New Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has the largest percentage of Lithuanian Americans (20.8%) in its population ...
community, collecting over 1.8 million US dollars; and more importantly, he managed to unite the Lithuanian diaspora. In 1922 he was elected to the First Lithuanian parliament (Seimas), and was a presidential candidate in the June 19, 1922 elections.


Mayor of Kaunas

From September 30, 1921 until July 2, 1931, he served as mayor () of
Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...
, the
temporary capital of Lithuania The temporary capital of Lithuania () was the official designation of the city of Kaunas in Lithuania during the interwar period. It was in contrast to the declared capital in Vilnius, which was the capital of the Republic of Central Lithuania ( ...
. Under his direction Kaunas grew rapidly and became a truly modern city. A water and wastewater system, costing over 15 million
Lithuanian litas The Lithuanian litas (ISO 4217, ISO currency code LTL, symbolized as Lt; plural ''litai'' (nominative) or ''litų'' (genitive) was the currency of Lithuania, until 1 January 2015, when it was replaced by the euro. It was divided into 100 Cent ...
, was put in place; the city expanded from 18 square kilometers to 40; more than 2,500 buildings were built, including three modern bridges over the
Neris The river Neris () or Vilija (, ) rises in northern Belarus. It flows westward, passing through Vilnius (Lithuania's capital) and in the south-centre of that country it flows into the Nemunas (Neman) from the right bank, at Kaunas, as its ma ...
and Nemunas rivers. All the city streets were paved, horse-drawn transportation was replaced with modern
bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...
lines, new suburbs were planned and built, and new parks and squares were established. The foundations for a
social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...
system were laid, three new schools were built, and new public libraries, including the Vincas Kudirka library, were established. Vileišis maintained many contacts in other European cities, and as a result Kaunas was an active participant in European urban life. Vileišis was also a professor at
Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) (, VDU) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known as the University of Lithuania, but ...
. On February 1, 1933, he was appointed to the State Council of Lithuania, and worked on the Civil Codecs of Lithuania. He died in 1942 at Red Cross Hospital in Kaunas, and is buried in Vilnius' Rasos cemetery in the Vileišiai family chapel.


Awards

*
Order of Vytautas the Great The Order of Vytautas the Great () is the Lithuanian Presidential Award.''Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija. 84 straipsnis''. Priimta 1992 It may be conferred on the heads of Lithuania and foreign states, as well as their citizens, for distinguish ...
2nd grade, September 8, 1934. *Honorary member of Lithuanian Lawyers society.


References

*"Vileišis, Jonas". Encyclopedia Lituanica VI: 124-125. (1970–1978). Ed. Simas Sužiedėlis. Boston, Massachusetts: Juozas Kapočius. LCCN 74-114275. * Jonas Aničas
Biography of Jonas Vileišis
* Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas. *

*
Vileišis family
National Museum of Lithuania {{DEFAULTSORT:Vileisis, Jonas 1872 births 1942 deaths Lithuanian diplomats Mayors of places in Lithuania Politicians from Kaunas Members of the Council of Lithuania Ministers of finance of Lithuania Ministers of internal affairs of Lithuania People from Kovno Governorate People from Pasvalys District Municipality Saint Petersburg State University alumni Academic staff of Vytautas Magnus University 20th-century Lithuanian lawyers Lithuanian independence activists Burials at Rasos Cemetery Lawyers from the Russian Empire