From Onikszty to the world. Antanas Baranauskas in the circle of Polish cultural creators (reconnaissance)

Abstract

In her article, Elżbieta Flis-Czerniak presents the figure of Antanas Baranauskas (1835–1902). She conducts a reconnaissance of his life and work, comparing him with a circle of Polish cultural creators from various backgrounds, starting from the noon of the 19th century and ending with its twilight. The researcher particularly emphasises that Baranauskas is one of the most outstanding Lithuanian representatives of the nineteenth-century intellectual life: a priest (bishop of Sejny), a poet, a scholar, an author of church songs, for which he composed not only the words, but also the melody. Making invaluable contributions to the Lithuanian cultural and national revival, he remained convinced until the end of his days of the need to strengthen the bonds between Lithuanians and Poles, connected by centuries of common historical experiences.