Draugas
Encyclopedia
Draugas is the only Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

n daily newspaper published abroad. It is read not only in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, but in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 as well.

History

Draugas is the oldest continuously published Lithuanian language
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...

 newspaper anywhere in the world.

Founded as a weekly Roman Catholic paper, Draugas published its first edition on July 25, 1909, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. On March 31, 1916, it was relocated to Chicago, Illinois, and since then has been published daily, except Mondays and Sundays.

During the Soviet occupation of Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

, the newspaper served as a voice of the Lithuanian independent media.

Currently, Draugas is published by the Lithuanian Catholic Press Society in Chicago, Illinois. It contains twelve pages of political, religious, scientific, economic, sports, public interest articles, announcements, and paid advertising. The Saturday issue is twenty-four pages, including a weekly supplement Kultūra meaning Culture and subtitled Menas Literatūra Mokslas meaning Art Literature Science.

Some Lithuanian books are also available from the Draugas publisher.

Draugas celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2009.

Staff

Such prominent Lithuanian émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....

 writers and public figures as Aloyzas Baronas, Kazys Bradūnas
Kazys Bradunas
Kazys Bradūnas was a Lithuanian émigré poet and editor. He was born in Kiršai, Vilkaviškis.He graduated from Vilnius University where he studied Lithuanian language and literature. During the post-war period he lived in Displaced Persons camps in Germany. In 1944 Bradūnas emigrated to the U.S.,...

, Česlovas Grincevičius, Bronius Kviklys, Rev. Vaclovas Bagdanavičius, Aušrelė Liulevičienė, Kazys Pakštas, Rev. Juozas Prunskis, Leonardas Simutis, Stasys Džiugas, and Nijolė Jankutė-Užubalienė, worked on the editorial staff during the Soviet occupation.

The current editor
Editor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...

 of the newspaper is Dalia Cidzikaitė. Other current writers include Renata Šerelytė, Edvardas Šulaitis, Bronius Nainys, Paul Triukas, and Leonas Čerškus.
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