page_title: Julius Janonis
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Julius Janonis / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Stone in memory of Julius Janonis, Beržiniai, Biržai district, Lithuania Русский: Камень в память Юлюса Янониса, д. Бяржиняй, Биржайский р-н, Литва
context_page_description: Julius Janonis was a Lithuanian poet and writer. Born to a family of poor peasants, he began writing and translating poems at the age of 14. Learning from Maironis, he wrote about nature and suffering of the poor. His first poems were published in 1912. While still a student, he began contributing articles to Lithuanian press and joined activities of leftist aušrininkai. He was a social-democrat but leaned more and more towards communism and his poetry became more and more political agitation. His views become even more radical when during World War I he evacuated to Voronezh and later Petrograd. He joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party and was imprisoned twice for revolutionary activities. He contracted tuberculosis and, unwilling to become a burden, committed suicide at age 21. In the Lithuanian SSR, Janonis was hailed as the "first poet of the proletariat".
context_section_description: In the Lithuanian SSR, Janonis was hailed as the "first poet of the proletariat" and made into a Soviet hero. To suit Soviet needs, his biography was edited to remove undesirable elements (such as his religious beliefs) and emphasize revolutionary activities (such as his participation in various worker strikes and protests). 
  In 1946, Šiauliai Gymnasium was renamed to Julius Janonis High School. Since 1970, the school hosts a museum which, among other things, collects items related to Janonis. It also has a monument by sculptor Romas Kazlauskas. The monument depicts a highly stylized anvil with a brass bell – both elements taken from Janonis' poems written while he lived in Šiauliai. 
  In 1957, a play Pamilau dangaus žydrumą (I Fell in Love with the Blue of the Sky – the first line of the last poem written by Janonis) by Julius Būtėnas and Aleksandras Kernagis was staged at the Academic Drama Theater. Two years later, the Lithuanian Film Studios made a 94-minute film  directed by Balys Bratkauskas and Vytautas Dabašinskas. In both the play and the film Janonis was played by Henrikas Kurauskas. In 1974, the Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre staged opera Avė, vita by Vytautas Klova.
  In 1973, a monument by sculptor Konstantinas Bogdanas was erected in the main square of Biržai and resembles a burning torch. An 8.5-metre (28 ft) high marble column is topped by a 6-metre (20 ft) high bronze sculpture of Janonis. The design was inspired by Bogdanas' mother who said that Janonis "burned down like a candle". Unlike monuments of many other communists, Janonis' was not removed after Lithuania declared independence in 1990. On occasion, the press publishes opinions for removing the monument, but it has been reinterpreted to represent youthful idealism and inexperience.
caption: Memorial stone in Janonis' birthplace
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