Jurgis Bielinis
Jurgis Bielinis (1846–1918) was one of the main organizers of the illegal book-smuggling at the time of the Lithuanian press ban (1864–1904). Bielinis is informally referred to as the King of Book Smugglers. Since 1989, Bielinis's birthday (16 March) is commemorated as the Day of Book Smugglers (Knygnešio diena).
Jurgis Bielinis | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 March 1846 Purviškiai I, Kovno Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 18 January 1918 (aged 71) Katinai, Ober Ost |
| Burial place | Churchyard of Suostas |
| Nationality | Lithuanian |
| Other names | Pen names: Bieliakas, Jakulis, Ministeris, Baltasis Erelis |
| Occupation(s) | Farmer, book smuggler, publisher |
| Years active | 1873–1918 |
| Children | Kipras Bielinis |
Around 1885 Bielinis founded the Garšviai Book Smuggling Society. They purchased large quantities of Lithuanian publications in East Prussia, smuggled them across the Prussia–Russia border, and distributed across Lithuania reaching as far as Riga and Jelgava in present-day Latvia. The Garšviai Society avoided more serious legal troubles for almost a decade. Bielinis evaded police capture and continued to smuggle books living a nomadic lifestyle – he continuously moved from one sympathetic Lithuanian family to another, never staying too long at one location. Active as a book smuggler for 32 years, Bielinis was arrested five times but never tried or sentenced and developed a folk hero reputation for his ability to outsmart the police.
He has published three issues of newspaper Baltasis erelis (The White Eagle) in 1897, 1911, and 1912, several booklets, and a few articles in the Lithuanian press including Aušra, Varpas, Ūkininkas, Tėvynės sargas, Vienybė lietuvninkų Lietuvos ūkininkas, Vilniaus žinios. His main area of interest was the various injustices suffered by the Lithuanian serfs and peasants at the hands of the large landowners. In 1897, he published a history of Lithuania using the text by Simonas Daukantas up to year 1201 and then adding his own text.