Kristijonas Donelaitis
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Kristijonas Donelaitis (Template:Langx;<ref name="Suziedelis2011">Template:Cite book</ref> 1 January 1714 – 18 February 1780) was a Prussian Lithuanian<ref name=lane/> poet and Lutheran pastor. He lived and worked in Lithuania Minor, a territory in the Kingdom of Prussia, that had a sizable Lithuanian-speaking minority. He wrote the first classic Lithuanian language poem, The Seasons (Template:Langx), which became one of the principal works of Lithuanian poetry.<ref name=BALT/> The poem, a classic work of Lithuanian literature, depicts everyday life of Lithuanian peasants, their struggle with serfdom, and the annual cycle of life.<ref name=CONOR/>
Biography
Early life
Donelaitis was born at Lasdinehlen estate (now Gusevsky District) near Gumbinnen, Prussia. His parents were free peasants who owned the land that they cultivated. His father died in 1720, leaving seven children (four sons and three daughters). One of his three brothers, Friedrich, became a goldsmith in Königsberg. Another brother, Michael, inherited the father's farm. His third brother, Adam, became a blacksmith and innkeeper.<ref name=le/>
In 1731, Donelaitis began attending the cathedral school in Kneiphof, a section of Königsberg.<ref name=el/> He lived in a pauper's dormitory and often went hungry for days.<ref name=le/> After graduation, he received a scholarship in 1736 to study at the University of Königsberg. For four years he studied Lutheran theology. His world view was shaped by the classical curriculum, required Lithuanian studies, and the Pietism movement.<ref name=el/> He learned Greek, Latin, French, and Hebrew languages, and studied the writings of classical authors such as Homer, Hesiod, Horace, and Virgil.<ref name=el/> After graduation, he was appointed as a cantor in Stallupönen. After the school rector died, Donelaitis took over his position. In 1743, he passed the required examination to become a pastor in Tollmingkehmen.<ref name=le/>
Life in Tollmingkehmen
Donelaitis lived in Tollmingkehmen from 1743 until his death in 1780. At the time, the parish of Tollmingkehmen had around 30 villages with around 3,000 residents.<ref name=el/> The population was about two-thirds German and one-third Lithuanian.<ref name=el/> In 1744, Donelaitis married Anna Regina Ohlefant, widow of the school rector in Stallupönen. In 1747, he worked to restore the rectory, and built a new brick church in 1756. In 1757, during the Seven Years' War, Donelaitis and his parishioners retreated to the Romincka Forest to hide from the advancing Imperial Russian Army.<ref name=le/> When he returned to the town, Donelaitis refused to preach praises to the Russian Tsar. After the war he rebuilt a burned school and sponsored construction of a shelter for widows. His hobbies included building thermometers and barometers, and constructing pianos and clavichords.<ref name=el/> He died, aged 66, in Tollmingkehmen, East Prussia.
Works
None of Donelaitis's works were published during his lifetime. Donelaitis wrote at least three poems in the German language (An der Amstrath Donalitius nach dem Verlust seiner Gattin, Der Gott der Finsterniss, and Unschuld sei mein ganzes Leben).<ref name=le/> His Lithuanian works consist of six fables and the poem The Seasons. Donelaitis's publisher, Ludwig Rhesa, believed that the fables, based on Aesop's Fables, were written for his students in Stallupönen.<ref name=le/> Their language and poetic rhythm are not as well-developed as in his later works.<ref name=el/>
His major work, The Seasons, was titled by Rheza. It consisted of four idylls, totaling 2,997 hexameters.<ref name=el/> The work was a long-term project, often revised and rewritten, without a clear beginning or ending. Only two original idylls survive. The other two were destroyed during the Napoleonic Wars.<ref name=le/> The full work is known from a copy made by Pastor Hohlfeldt after 1794. Between 1809 and 1818, Rheza collected Donelaitis's works, edited and translated them, and finally published it as Das jahr in vier Gesängen.<ref name=le/> It was a heavily edited and censored edition, containing only about one sixth of the original poem. In 1824, Rheza also published the fables. A fuller publication of The Seasons was prepared by August Schleicher in 1865, but this edition was criticized by Georg H. F. Nesselmann, who prepared an edition in 1869.<ref name=le/>
Legacy
Donelaitis and his works are considered to be an important part of Lithuanian culture, which also led to creation of literature and music works based on Donelaitis's life and his poem The Seasons. At the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre in 1985, an opera Kristijonas by Algimantas Bražinskas was performed.<ref>Template:Cite video</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2012, an oratorio Seasons by Bronius Kutavičius was performed.<ref>Template:Cite video</ref>
References
External links
- Full-text Lithuanian poem Metai Template:In lang
- Full bibliography of Donelaitis Template:In lang
- Litauische Dichtungen, published by August Schleicher in 1865 Template:In lang
- Christian Donalitius Littauische Dichtungen nach den Königsberger published by Georg Heinrich Ferdinand Nesselmann in 1869 Template:In lang
- Pages with broken file links
- 1714 births
- 1780 deaths
- People from Gusevsky District
- People from East Prussia
- Lithuanian Lutheran clergy
- 18th-century German Lutheran clergy
- 18th-century German poets
- 18th-century Lithuanian writers
- German male poets
- Lithuania Minor
- Lithuanian male poets
- Lithuanian-language writers
- 18th-century German male writers
- University of Königsberg alumni