Felicija Bortkevičienė | |
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| Born | Felicija Povickaitė (1873-09-01)1 September 1873 |
| Died | 21 October 1945(1945-10-21) (aged 72) |
| Resting place | Troškūnai |
| Alma mater | Flying University |
| Years active | 1899–1940 |
| Known for | Publisher ofLietuvos ūkininkas andLietuvos žinios |
| Political party | Lithuanian Democratic Party Lithuanian Popular Socialist Democratic Party Peasant Union Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union |
| Movement | Lithuanian National Revival |
| Board member of | Žiburėlis Lithuanian Women's Association Lithuanian Women's Union |
| Spouse | Jonas Bortkevičius (1871–1909) |
Felicija Bortkevičienėnée Povickaitė (1 September 1873 – 21 October 1945) was aLithuanian politician and long-term publisher ofLietuvos ūkininkas andLietuvos žinios. She became active in public life after she moved toVilnius in 1900 and became known as an energetic and prolific organizer, manager, and treasurer of numerous political, cultural, and charitable organizations. She joined and was one of the leaders of various political parties, including theLithuanian Democratic Party, thePeasant Union, and theLithuanian Peasant Popular Union. She was a delegate to theGreat Seimas of Vilnius (1905), was elected to theConstituent Assembly of Lithuania (1920), and was considered for the positions of Minister of Provision and Public Work (1918) and President of Lithuania (1926). Bortkevičienė organized and ran several charitable organizations, including those supporting gifted students, political prisoners of theTsarist regime, anddeported Prussian Lithuanians. She was also a member ofwomen's movement in Lithuania, being an active member of theLithuanian Women's Association and the chair of theLithuanian Women's Union. For her various activities Bortkevičienė was arrested and imprisoned numerous times by different regimes, including Tsarist Russia, independent Lithuania, andSoviet Lithuania.
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She was born in the Manor ofLinkaučiai nearKrekenava, then part of theRussian Empire, to the family of Juozas Povickas and Antanina Ona Liutkevičiūtė, pettyLithuanian nobles. The family's manor was confiscated for their participation in theUprising of 1863 and the family moved to Antakalnis village southeast ofUkmergė.[1] Several of her relatives on her mother's side died in the uprising or were deported to Siberia.[2] As a child she visited her deported grandfather and two uncles inInsar.[1] Bortkevičienė thus grew up surrounded by anti-Tsarist attitudes.[3] She spoke little Lithuanian, which she learned from her mother. Her father spoke Polish, but considered himself Lithuanian (seePolish-Lithuanian identity).[1] By her own admission, she knew nothing of theLithuanian National Revival before 1889.[4]
She was tutored at home before attending the Marinskaja Girls' Gymnasium inKaunas in 1885–89. She was expelled from the school for inciting five other girls to disobey a new requirement to pray in an Eastern Orthodox Church, but after much difficulty managed to gain admission toVilnius Girls' Gymnasium and graduate in 1890.[1] For a year, she studied Polish history and French language at the secret "Flying University" inWarsaw.[3] Upon her return, she worked at a bank in Ukmergė with her father until his death in 1898.[1] This experience was particularly useful later in life when she organized finances of various organizations.[2] In 1899, she married engineer and childhood friend Jonas Bortkevičius (1871–1909). He was not of noble birth and her family disapproved the marriage.[1] The newlyweds moved toVilnius, where they became involved in public life. She studied theLithuanian language and became passionate about its revival.[3]
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In Vilnius, Bortkevičienė joined an illegal intellectuals' society, later known as theTwelve Apostles of Vilnius.[3] Throughbook smuggler Motiejus Baltūsis, Bortkevičienė gained access to theillegal Lithuanian newspapersVarpas,Ūkininkas, andNaujienos. After Baltūsis's arrest in 1902, she became involved in book smuggling and in publishing these newspapers.[1] She would send manuscripts to the editors and raise money for their expenses. Some of the illegal publications would be hidden in theChurch of St. Nicholas.[5] She became a member of central committee theLithuanian Democratic Party (LDP), established in October 1902, and a member of the board of theLithuanian Women's Association, established in September 1905.[6] Her home became a gathering place for intellectuals; sessions of LDP took place in her home.[6]
She supported theRevolution of 1905 by providing money, materials, and even weapons to agitators.[3] She was a member of the organizational committee of and a delegate to theGreat Seimas of Vilnius. ThePeasant Union was established during the Seimas and Bortkevičienė became the manager of its central committee. The Union proposed and the Seimas approved a resolution calling for universalsuffrage without regard to sex, religion, or nationality.[4] According to memoirs of her contemporaries, she spoke little but was involved in nearly every aspect of organizing and running the Seimas.[6] She assistedErnestas Galvanauskas in his escape from the Panevėžys Prison and flight abroad.[7] In 1906, the revolution was weakening and Bortkevičienė's work shifted to the Lithuanian press which became legal. She publishedLietuvos ūkininkas andLietuvos žinios.[4]
In September 1907, Bortkevičienė participated in theFirst Lithuanian Women's Congress and later attempted to prevent the women's movement from splitting into Catholic and liberal branches.[3] She was also involved in charitable work, includingŽiburėlis society which supported gifted students (Bortkevičienė was its chair from 1903 to 1940)[8] and Martyr Fund (Kankinių kasa) which supported activists persecuted by Tsarist authorities (1904–14).[6] For her anti-Tsarist activities, she was imprisoned four times.[9] She was arrested for the first time in 1907 for participating in an illegal teacher gathering.[10] Her husband was imprisoned inLukiškės Prison in 1906 for three months;[5] the experience weakened his health and after a long treatment he died in January 1909.[2] Before the illness, he had a well-paid job at a military factory.[10] She used her inheritance from him (about 5,000 rubles) to fund the publication ofLietuvos ūkininkas andLietuvos žinios.[11] In 1915, she became the first femaleFreemason in Lithuania.[6]
During World War I, Bortkevičienė evacuated to Russia and continued her active public work. She organized relief forPrussian Lithuanians deported fromLithuania Minor. She visited their communities in towns along theUral Mountains andVolga River.[9] The journey took five months.[7] Her organization, theLithuanian Care (Lietuvių globa), provided support to some 4,000 Prussian Lithuanians and maintained six elementary schools and four shelters for the elderly.[1] In April 1917, Lithuanians decided to organize theLithuanian conference in Petrograd. Bortkevičienė was a member of its organizing committee and, during the conference in May 1917, a member of its Education Commission.[4] During the conference, she opposed full independence of Lithuania and instead advocated autonomy within the Russian Empire. Within a few months she regretted the vote and considered it a mistake.[6] She became treasurer of the newly formedLithuanian Popular Socialist Democratic Party.[7] In October 1917, she was a delegate to theLithuanian conference in Stockholm.[12] After the conference, she lived inCopenhagen and worked with theRed Cross organizing relief for Lithuanian POWs in Germany.[12]
In spring 1918, she returned to Vilnius and resumed political activities, revivingLietuvos ūkininkas in November 1918.[7] In December 1918, at the start of theLithuanian–Soviet War, the Lithuanian government was in crisis and Bortkevičienė encouragedMykolas Sleževičius to take charge and become the Prime Minister.[12] Sleževičius considered her for the Ministry of Provision and Public Work, but members of the government expressed reservations about a woman minister and she was not selected.[3] While the government evacuated toKaunas, Bortkevičienė stayed in Vilnius.[7] In the beginning of 1919, Bortkevičienė and other prominent personalities, includingMečislovas Reinys,Juozas Vailokaitis, andLiudas Gira, were jailed as hostages by theLithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic headed byVincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas.[12] The Lithuanian SSR demanded the release of communists held by the Lithuanian government. She spent six months in prisons inLukiškės,Daugavpils, andSmolensk.[9] On 24 July,Vaclovas Sidzikauskas arranged a prisoner exchange inDaugailiai, swapping fifteen prominent Lithuanians, including Bortkevičienė, for 35 communists.[13]
In July 1919, Bortkevičienė returned toKaunas. In April 1920, as a candidate of thePeasant Union, she was elected to theConstituent Assembly of Lithuania, but due to her busy schedule she refused the mandate.[12] She became a member of the Constituent Assembly in January 1921 when she replaced the deceased Juozas Lukoševičius.[2] She helped prepare the Statute of theUniversity of Lithuania and the Patient's Fund Law. The law was particularly important for women as it provided 6-weekmaternity leave and forbade termination of employment on grounds of pregnancy.[3] During the Assembly sessions Bortkevičienė spoke rarely, but she voiced her opinions on two major issues,land reform and the institution of the president.[2] She opposed returning land that was confiscated by the Tsarist regime from churches and monasteries.[12] When discussing the constitution, she also opposed creating the institution of the president. Both of these measures passed by the votes of theLithuanian Christian Democratic Party.[2] In 1926, she ran in theparliamentary election as a candidate of theLithuanian Peasant Popular Union. She was not elected to theThird Seimas of Lithuania, but she was nominated for thepresidency of Lithuania. She received one vote.[3]
In April 1920, together with theLithuanian Popular Socialist Democratic Party (LPSDP), she established publishing company AB Varpas (bell), which she headed until 1930.[3] Because LPSDP shared office space with the press, in effect, she was in charge of the finances and daily operations of LPSDP.[1][12] In February 1922, she revived the publication ofLietuvos žinios andLietuvos ūkininkas.[3] The publications were outspoken about their ideals and did not shrink from criticizing the government, for which Bortkevičienė faced fines and arrests. In 1923 alone there were 17 lawsuits in which Bortkevičienė was named as the responsible party.[5] For publishing a caricature of Prime MinisterVytautas Petrulis and Minister of DefenseLeonas Bistras in October 1925, she was fined 2,000litas or imprisonment for a month and a half. Not having enough funds, she was imprisoned until her friends raised enough money.[5]
All her life Bortkevičienė campaigned for democratic liberties and was particularly upset by theDecember 1926 coup d'état that brought the authoritarian regime ofAntanas Smetona. Her publications were critical of the regime either directly or indirectly (for example, via examination of negative effects of other authoritarian regimes).[6] On 11 March 1927, the printing house was bombed by unknown persons; she lived in a small house near the printing house.[2] In his memoirs,Kazys Grinius blamedVoldemarininkai for the explosion, but the group was established only in late 1927 and thus unlikely responsible.[14] The explosion was powerful enough to collapse two floors of the building and destroy printing presses. However, the newspaper was not discontinued. The same dayLietuvos žinios was printed by a different press.[5] Bortkevičienė rebuilt the press by October 1928.[1] The publication ofLietuvos žinios was temporarily suspended by the government censors four times; the last and the longest time was six months for making fun of a son ofBenito Mussolini.[5] Bortkevičienė campaigned for amnesty ofJuozas Pajaujis [lt] who received a death sentence for organizing an anti-Smetona coup in 1927.[2]
In 1922, she helped reestablish theLithuanian Women's Union which she chaired until 1928.[3] She was also a member of other women's organizations, including Lithuanian Women's Support Committee and Association of Lithuanian Women with Higher Education.[3] She also participated in the establishment of theumbrella organizationLithuanian Women's Council in 1928, but became its opponent when the Council became financed and used as a political tool by the Smetona's regime.[3]
When theSoviet Union occupied Lithuania in 1940, the press wasnationalized, taking away Bortkevičienė's life work and means of living.[2] In 1945, she was arrested and interrogated by theNKVD several times. That negatively affected her health and she died in October 1945 in Kaunas. Her funeral was supervised by the NKVD; her body was transported in a simple truck toTroškūnai and buried next to her sister.[5]
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