Petras Cvirka (March 12, 1909 – May 2, 1947) 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 writer of several novels, children's books, and short story collections. He wrote under a variety of

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

s: A. Cvingelis, Cezaris Petrėnas, J. K. Pavilionis, K. Cvirka, Kanapeikus, Kazys Gerutis, Klangis, Klangis Petras, Klangių Petras, L. P. Cvirka, Laumakys, P. Cvinglis, P. Cvirka-Rymantas, P. Gelmė, P. Veliuoniškis, Petras Serapinas, and S. Laumakys. His works have been translated into Belarusian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Czech, English, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Polish, Romanian, and Uzbek.

Biography

Cvirka attended an art school in Kaunas between 1926 and 1930. However, after graduation he drifted away from visual arts to literature. He began publishing poetry in 1924 and studied literature in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

during 1931 and 1932. He translated 9 books and 34 shorter works from French into Lithuanian. Later in the decade he travelled to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, and western Europe. He published works in the magazine ''

Trečias frontas ''Trečias frontas'' () was a short-lived Lithuanian literary magazine which was the official organ of the Trečiafrontininkai (Third Fronters) group. The magazine was preparing to publish its 6th and 7th issues however after the 5th issue, the mag ...

'' (Third Front), which was financially supported by the underground

Communist Party of Lithuania The Communist Party of Lithuania (; ) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clandestinely until it was legalized in 1940 after the Soviet invasion and occupation. The party was ...

(LCP) and later collaborated with the magazine ''Literatūra'' (Literature), also organized and financed by the LCP.

Support to the Soviets

He joined the Communist Party in 1940 and supported Lithuania's incorporation into the Soviet Union. Petro Cvirkos paminklas - panoramio

In 1941, following the outbreak of war between Germany and the Soviet Union, he moved to

Alma-Ata Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains in southern Kazakhstan, near the border wi ...

and then

, joining the

Union of Writers of the USSR The Union of Soviet Writers, USSR Union of Writers, or Soviet Union of Writers () was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1934 on the initiative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (1932) a ...

. Returning to Lithuania in 1944, he went on to serve as chairman of the

Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was ''de facto'' one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944 ...

's Writer's Union and as editor of the journal ''

Pergalė ''Pergalė'' (meaning ''Victory'' in English) was a literary magazine in Soviet Lithuania issued between 1942 and 1990. Profile ''Pergalė'' was started in 1942 as a literary Supplement (publishing), supplement to the army newspaper ''Motherland ...

'' (Victory). After Cvirka's death in 1947, the Soviet authorities erected a monument to his memory in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. This monument became the object of controversy after the restoration of independence in 1990 due to Cvirka's pro-communist activities. On November 19, 2021 the statue was removed. In 2025, as part of ongoing desovietization of public spaces, Vilnius municipality decided to rename a square named after Petras Cvirka.

Works

Cvirka's works combine biting commentary on social issues with keen feelings for the natural world. His works are also known for their wit and strong dialogue. The novel ''Meisteris ir sūnūs'' depicts the folk art of Lithuania in a new way. It incorporates plentiful

folkloric Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes material ...

and

ethnographic Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

details of Lithuanian village life and attempts to translate rich oral traditions into the written medium. A prominent example of socialist realism, the novel ''Žemė maitintoja'' depicts an ideal new socialist man. The protagonist is a young, non-religious, determined farmer, who received his land as a result of the land reform when estates of former nobility were divided among the poor. He has no emotional attachment to his land, rather perceiving the economic benefits of

collective farming Collective farming and communal farming are various types of "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member-o ...

. This is an example of a person who needs to be created by communism. The two-volume ''Frank Kruk'' is a satirical novel about Pranas Krukelis, a Lithuanian immigrant to the United States who Americanizes his name to Frank Kruk. Krukelis engages in criminal activity and exploits other Lithuanian immigrants. A theatrical adaptation was staged in

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

in 2003;

Vytautas Paukštė Vytautas Paukštė (2 July 1932 – 21 July 2022) was a Lithuanian actor. He appeared in more than forty films between 1968 and his death. Selected filmography References External links

* 1932 births 2022 deaths Actors from K ...

received the

Lithuanian National Prize The Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts (), established in 1989, is an award granted for achievements in culture and the arts. It has been awarded annually in six categories since 2006 (between 1989 and 2006 there were nine categories). ...

for his portrayal of Kruk. Cvirka was the first writer to address the

Lithuanian partisans Lithuanian partisans () were partisans who waged guerrilla warfare in Lithuania against the Soviet Union in 1944–1953. Similar anti-Soviet resistance groups, also known as Forest Brothers and cursed soldiers, fought against Soviet rule in E ...

– anti-Soviet guerrilla fighters – in the short story ''Pabučiavimas'', one of his last works.

Selected bibliography

* ''Pirmosios mišios'' (''The First Mass'', 1928) * ''Saulėlydis Nykos valsčiuje'' (''The Sunset in the Community of Nyka'', 1930) * ''Frank Kruk'' (1934) * ''Meisteris ir sūnūs'' (''The Artisan and His Sons'', 1936) * ''Žemė maitintoja'' (''Land the Nourisher'', 1946) * ''Brolybės sėkla'' (''Seeds of Fraternity'', 1947)
from Archive.org
(English)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cvirka, Petras 1909 births 1947 deaths People from Jurbarkas District Municipality People from Kovensky Uyezd Lithuanian male novelists Lithuanian male poets Lithuanian male short story writers Lithuanian children's writers Lithuanian satirists Lithuanian satirical novelists Socialist realism writers Lithuanian communists Lithuanian-language writers 20th-century Lithuanian novelists 20th-century Lithuanian poets 20th-century Lithuanian short story writers Burials at Rasos Cemetery Soviet writers