Petrašiunai Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Petrašiūnai Cemetery is Lithuania's premiere last resting place formally designated for graves of people influential in national history, politics, arts, and science.
, Lithuania
. It covers over 22 acres (8.9 ha) in a quiet area of a peninsula formed by the Neman River
where its bend was widened by Kaunas Reservoir. Its name, ("of Petrašiūnai"), is based on Petrašiūnai
, the borough of the City of Kaunas
where it is placed.
Location
Petrašiūnai Cemetery is located about 6 miles (9.7 km) south-east of the center of KaunasKaunas
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
, 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...
. It covers over 22 acres (8.9 ha) in a quiet area of a peninsula formed by the Neman River
Neman River
Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...
where its bend was widened by Kaunas Reservoir. Its name, ("of Petrašiūnai"), is based on Petrašiūnai
Petrašiunai
Petrašiūnai is a neighborhood in the eastern part of the Lithuanian city of Kaunas, with elderate status. In 2006 it occupied about 28.46 hectares, with a population of about 18,000. A part of the elderate belongs to the Kaunas Reservoir Regional Park....
, the borough of the City of Kaunas
Kaunas
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
where it is placed.
History
The construction of the cemetery began by the end of 1939, burials started in 1941, it was periodically expanded in the late 1950s and needed substantial restoration after the gale of 6 August 2010. The options for a burial at the cemetery have been formally restricted since 1972, the authorities designated it as the location where prominent people of Lithuania are buried, the last resting place of accomplished scientists, writers, artists, and politicians.Notable graves
- Saliamonas BanaitisSaliamonas BanaitisSaliamonas Banaitis was a Lithuanian printer, educator, and banker. He was one of the twenty signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania in 1918....
, printer, educator, and banker; a signer of the Act of Independence of LithuaniaAct of Independence of LithuaniaThe Act of Independence of Lithuania or Act of February 16 was signed by the Council of Lithuania on February 16, 1918, proclaiming the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania, governed by democratic principles, with Vilnius as its capital. The Act was signed by all twenty... - Bernardas BrazdžionisBernardas BrazdžionisBernardas Brazdžionis was a Lithuanian poet. Bernardas Brazdžionis also used various pen names, such as Vytė Nemunėlis, Jaunasis Vaidevutis.-Biography:...
, poet - Kazys BinkisKazys BinkisKazys Binkis was a Lithuanian poet, journalist, and playwright. He used the pseudonyms K.Alijošius, K. Papilietis, Kazys, Kazys Roviejietis, Nedarbininkas, Neklaipėdietis, Nelatvis, Nepartyvis, Ras Desta, Riza Chanas and others.-Biography:...
, poet - Leonas BistrasLeonas BistrasLeonas Bistras was a Lithuanian politician, journalist, translator, philosopher and professor. He had studied medicine also....
, Lithuanian Prime Minister, translator, philosopher, professor - Kazimieras BūgaKazimieras BugaKazimieras Būga was a Lithuanian linguist and philologist. He was a professor of linguistics, who mainly worked on the Lithuanian language.He was born at Pažiegė, near Dusetos, then part of the Russian Empire...
, philologistPhilologyPhilology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin... - Vladimiras DubeneckisVladimiras DubeneckisVladimiras Dubeneckis was a Lithuanian architect and painter.-References:*Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia...
, architect, painter - Paulius GalaunėPaulius GalaunėPaulius Galaunė was a Lithuanian art historian, museum curator, and graphic artist. He was one of the first professional museum curators in Lithuania and was well-published on topics of Lithuanian folk art...
, art historian, museum curator, and graphic artist - Marija GimbutasMarija GimbutasMarija Gimbutas , was a Lithuanian-American archeologist known for her research into the Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures of "Old Europe", a term she introduced. Her works published between 1946 and 1971 introduced new views by combining traditional spadework with linguistics and mythological...
, archeologist - Algirdas Julius GreimasAlgirdas Julien GreimasAlgirdas Julien Greimas , known among other things for the Greimas Square, is considered, along with Roland Barthes, the most prominent of the French semioticians. With his training in linguistics, he added to the theory of signification and laid the foundations for the Paris School of Semiotics...
, philosopher, semioticianSemioticsSemiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes , indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication... - Juozas GruodisJuozas GruodisJuozas Gruodis was a famous Lithuanian classic, composer, educator and professor.- External links :* * *...
, composer - Juozas GrušasJuozas GrušasJuozas Grušas was a Lithuanian writer, editor, dramatist and playwright.-Biography:...
, Lithuanian playwright, writer, editor, and dramatist - Jonas JablonskisJonas JablonskisJonas Jablonskis was a distinguished Lithuanian linguist and one of the founders of the standard Lithuanian language...
, philologistPhilologyPhilology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin... - Kazimieras JauniusKazimieras JauniusKazimieras Jaunius was a Lithuanian priest and linguist. He started his studies in linguistics in the end of 19th century in Kaunas. While Jaunius did not publish much, his major achievements include research on the similarity of Lithuanian to other languages and the systematization of research of...
, linguist - Steponas KairysSteponas KairysSteponas Kairys was a Lithuanian engineer, nationalist, and social democrat. He was among the 20 men to sign the Act of Independence of Lithuania on February 16, 1918.-Engineering career:...
, politician, engineer - Petras KalpokasPetras KalpokasPetras Kalpokas was a well known Lithuanian painter and professor.- Biography :Kalpokas was born on 31 March 1880 in the village of Miškinė, near Kvetkai, in the Kovno Governorate of the Russian Empire .From 1890 to 1895 he attended the Gymnasium of Jelgava, Latvia...
, painter - Petras KlimasPetras KlimasPetras Klimas was a Lithuanian diplomat, author, historian, and one of the twenty signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania.Klimas attended law school at the University of Moscow. After graduating, he returned to Vilnius and served on the Lithuanian Central Relief Committee. He was...
, diplomat, historian, a signer of the Act of Independence of LithuaniaAct of Independence of LithuaniaThe Act of Independence of Lithuania or Act of February 16 was signed by the Council of Lithuania on February 16, 1918, proclaiming the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania, governed by democratic principles, with Vilnius as its capital. The Act was signed by all twenty...
- Sofija Kymantaitė-Čiurlionienė, writer, literary critic
- Marija LastauskienėMarija LastauskienėMarija Lastauskienė née Ivanauskaitė and her sister Sofija Pšibiliauskienė were the Lithuanian sisters writers of Polish heritage using the pen name Lazdynų Pelėda...
, writer - Kazys LozoraitisKazys LozoraitisKazys Lozoraitis was a prominent Lithuanian diplomat and cultural activist. He was the first ambassador of Lithuania to the Holy See and to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. On 2007 August he died in Rome.-Biography:...
, diplomat - Stasys LozoraitisStasys Lozoraitis (junior)Stasys Lozoraitis was a Lithuanian diplomat. He was a son of Stasys Lozoraitis and brother of Kazys Lozoraitis....
Jr., diplomat - Algimantas MasiulisAlgimantas MasiulisAlgimantas Masiulis was a Lithuanian film and theater actor.Masiulis appeared in his first play in the autumn of 1948, in Schoolgirl, where he played the role of a gym student. The play was directed by his teacher, Juozas Miltinis. Over the course of his career, Masiulis portrayed over 90 characters...
, actor - Antanas MerkysAntanas MerkysAntanas Merkys |Bajorai]], near Skapiškis, Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire; died on March 5, 1955 in Vladimir Oblast, Soviet Union) was the last Prime Minister of independent Lithuania, serving from November 1939 to June 1940. When Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania, President...
(symbolic tombstone), Prime Minister - Ričardas MikutavičiusRicardas MikutaviciusRičardas Mikutavičius was a Lithuanian priest, theologist, poet and one of the most famous collectors of art in Lithuania.- Biography :...
, priest, theologian, poet - Salomėja NėrisSalomeja NerisSalomėja Nėris - Lithuanian poetess.- Biography :Nėris was born in Kiršai, in the current district of Vilkaviškis. She graduated from the University of Lithuania where she studied Lithuanian and German language and literature.After that she was a teacher in Lazdijai, Kaunas, and Panevėžys...
, poetess - Stasys RaštikisStasys RaštikisStasys Raštikis was a Lithuanian military officer, ultimately obtaining the rank of General of the Lithuanian Army, as well as the Minister of Defense in the Provisional Government established before the German takeover of Lithuania in 1941.-Biography:Born in Kuršėnai, Raštikis attended school in...
, General of the Lithuanian Army - Petras RimšaPetras RimšaPetras Rimša was one of the first professional Lithuanian sculptors and medalists.-Biography:...
, Lithuanian sculptor and medalist - Mykolas Riomeris, lawyer, professor
- Česlovas SasnauskasCeslovas SasnauskasČeslovas Sasnauskas was a Lithuanian composer.Sasnauskas worked as an organist in Vilkaviškis and also played in Saint Petersburg upon relocating there in 1891....
, composer, organist - Kazys ŠimonisKazys ŠimonisKazys Šimonis was a famous Lithuanian painter.-Biography:K. Šimonis was born on August 25, 1887 in Starkonys, near Kupiškis, northern Lithuania. He studied organ, was also interested in history and ethnography. In 1909–1911, he went to work for his brother in the United States...
, painter - Kazys ŠkirpaKazys ŠkirpaKazys Škirpa was a Lithuanian military officer and diplomat best known for his attempts to establish Lithuanian independence in 1941.- Army career:...
, Lithuanian military officer and diplomat - Mykolas SleževičiusMykolas SleževiciusMykolas Sleževičius was a Lithuanian lawyer, political figure, and journalist, who served as Prime Minister of Lithuania on two occasions.- Early life :...
, Lithuanian Prime Minister, lawyer - Aleksandras ŠtromasAleksandras ŠtromasAleksandras Štromas was a prominent Lithuanian political scientist, dissident, professor.-Biography:...
, lawyer - Juozas UrbšysJuozas UrbšysJuozas Urbšys was a prominent interwar Lithuanian diplomat, the last head of foreign affairs in independent interwar Lithuania, and a translator. He served in the military between 1916 and 1922, afterwards joining the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs...
, diplomat - Juozas ZikarasJuozas ZikarasJuozas Zikaras was a Lithuanian sculptor and artist, who created the design for pre-war Lithuanian litas coins. He is considered to be one of the first professional Lithuanian sculptors.-Biography:...
, sculptor - Antanas ŽmuidzinavičiusAntanas ŽmuidzinaviciusAntanas Žmuidzinavičius was a Lithuanian painter and art collector. Sometimes he used Antanas Žemaitis as his pen name....
, painter