Jurgis Bielinis
Encyclopedia
Knygnešiai
Book smugglers were people who transported Lithuanian language books printed in the Latin alphabet into Lithuanian-speaking areas of the Russian Empire, defying a ban on such materials in force from 1866 to 1904...
) at the time of the Lithuanian press ban
Lithuanian press ban
The Lithuanian press ban was a ban on all Lithuanian language publications printed in the Latin alphabet within the Russian Empire, which controlled Lithuania at the time. Lithuanian-language publications that used the Cyrillic alphabet were allowed and even encouraged...
. He was also a publicist and contributor to Lithuanian newspapers Aušra
Aušra
Aušra or Auszra was the first national Lithuanian newspaper. The first issue was published in 1883, in Ragnit, East Prussia, Germany East Prussia's ethnolinguistic part - Lithuania Minor. Later it was published monthly in Tilsit...
and Varpas
Varpas
Varpas was a monthly Lithuanian-language newspaper published during the Lithuanian press ban from January 1889 to December 1905...
. Bielinis used pseudonyms Bieliakas, Jakulis, and is informally referred to as King of Knygnešiai
Knygnešiai
Book smugglers were people who transported Lithuanian language books printed in the Latin alphabet into Lithuanian-speaking areas of the Russian Empire, defying a ban on such materials in force from 1866 to 1904...
. It is estimated, that during 31 years when he was active, Bielinis and his organizations illegally brought about half of all Lithuanian books from the East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
(Lithuania Minor
Lithuania Minor
Lithuania Minor or Prussian Lithuania is a historical ethnographic region of Prussia, later East Prussia in Germany, where Prussian Lithuanians or Lietuvininkai lived. Lithuania Minor enclosed the northern part of this province and got its name due to the territory's substantial...
) into the Lithuanian mainland during the entire press ban (1864–1904).
Biography
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
in 1872. Since 1873 Bielinis was involved in the book-smuggling activities and cooperated with Motiejus Valančius
Motiejus Valancius
Motiejus Valančius was a Catholic bishop of Samogitia, historian and one of the best known Lithuanian writers of the 19th century.-Biography:...
. Since 1890 he was actively sought by the authorities of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. Bielinis could not come home and had to hide. He escaped at least five times after being captured by gendarmes
Special Corps of Gendarmes
The Special Corps of Gendarmes was the uniformed security police of the Russian Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its main responsibilities were law enforcement and state security....
, despite a large monetary reward promised for his capture. This encouraged him to organize the book distribution even better. Bielinis became an ultimate professional book smuggler and the main organizer of the Lithuanian book distribution in northern Lithuania. He founded Garšviai knygnešiai society, the largest book smuggling organization at the time. Bielinis developed a newspaper subscription system and was delivering newspapers and magazines to the subscribers. His organization also delivered forbidden Latvian books to Latvia. For his active participation in underground books smuggling, Bielinis was nicknamed as "knygnešių karalius" (The King of the Book Carriers).
Bielinis also published his own newspaper Baltasis erelis (for this purpose brought a printing press form Martynas Jankus
Martynas Jankus
Martin Jankus was a Prussian-Lithuanian printer, social activist and publisher in East Prussia, called the Patriarch of Lithuania Minor. He was one of the publishers of Aušra, the first Lithuanian-language newspaper...
) and wrote several brochures on the history of Lithuania
History of Lithuania
The history of Lithuania dates back to at least 1009, the first recorded written use of the term. Lithuanians, a branch of the Baltic peoples, later conquered neighboring lands, establishing the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and in the 13th century the short-lived Kingdom of Lithuania. The Grand Duchy...
. He was among the first who spoke openly about Independent Lithuania. Bielinis died walking by foot to attend the Vilnius Conference
Vilnius Conference
The Vilnius Conference or Vilnius National Conference met between September 18, 1917 and September 22, 1917, and began the process of establishing a Lithuanian state based on ethnic identity and language that would be independent of the Russian Empire, Poland, and the German Empire...
. Jurgis Bielinis birthday is celebrated in Lithuania as the Day of Knygnešys. He is buried in Suostas' churchyard.