Lithuania Bids Farewell to Poet Justinas Marcinkevičius
Thousands of people lined up, despite winter freeze, in a long queue at the Academy of Sciences in Vilnius, to pay tribute to the Lithuanian national poet Justinas Marcinkevičius. The poet passed away Wednesday after a severe trauma suffered last year.
Marcinkevičius’s long and remarkable relationship with the Lithuanian literature started in 1950s. He found his own way to continue the neo-romantic tradition in Lithuanian poetry and inspired many to return to the national roots. In his works, Marcinkevičius defended
Marcinkevičius’s most appreciated contribution to Lithuanian literature and theater is his trilogy Mindaugas–The Cathedral–Mažvydas. This important work reflects the painful dilemmas of Lithuanian state formation and consolidation, including the relationship between the tradition and the need to change. By openly calling to preserve Lithuanian language, this trilogy had strengthened the national feelings of Lithuanians during the soviet occupation and promoted the public interest in Lithuanian language and history.
Marcinkevičius wrote under the most difficult period of soviet totalitarianism. Therefore, his most mature works possess highly metaphorical speech. An excerpt from one of his works is available here.
The poet will be buried in the Antakalnis cemetery in
Source: Embassy of
