Grushas, ​​Juozas

Born into a peasant family. The first teacher of Juozas Grushas was the poet Jonas Krikščiūnas-Jovaras, who taught him literacy and interested in literature. In 1914 he graduated from elementary school. After the death of his mother, when his father married a second marriage, in 1919 he began working at the leather factory of Chaim Frenkel.

In 1920 - 1924 he studied at the gymnasium in Šiauliai. In 1924 he entered the Faculty of Law of the University of Lithuania in Kaunas (since 1930 the University of Vytautas the Great ), later studied Lithuanian language and literature, German studies, and pedagogy at the same university. According to other sources, he studied Lithuanian and German literature and pedagogy at the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy of the University of Lithuania in 1924-1928. He graduated from the university in 1931 . ^[one]

In 1928-1939 he worked as a teacher in Kaunas. In 1931 he taught Lithuanian language and history at the pedagogical courses of the Jewish teachers of the “Trabut” society ^[2] .

He was the editor of the Catholic weekly Mūsų laikraštis (1928-1939). He collaborated in various newspapers and magazines ( Athenaeum , Kultūra , Lietuva , Literatūros naujienos , Naujoji Romuva , Židinys and others). Used the pseudonyms Juozas Kriaušė, J. Kriaušė, Lionginas Padanginė ^[3] .

In 1937 he was chairman of the board of the Lithuanian Writers Society. In 1940 - 1941 he was the editor-in-chief of the State Publishing House of Fiction of the Lithuanian SSR. During the German occupation of Lithuania in 1941-1944 he lived in Joniškis. After the war, he was the head of the literary department at the Šiauliai Drama Theater. Since 1948 he was a member of the Lithuanian Writers Union . Since 1949 he lived in Kaunas, doing creative work.

He was buried at the Pyatrashunsky cemetery in Kaunas.

The beginning of literary activity dates back to 1925 . He printed stories, poems, feuilleton. The first collection of short stories “Ponia Bertulienė” (“Madame Bertulene”) was published in 1928 . The short story collection “Sunki ranka” (“Heavy Hand”) was awarded the literary prize of the publishing house “Spindulys” (1937). Author of the novel Karjeristai (Careerists, 1935 ). He acted as a literary critic.

In 1944 he made his debut in drama with the drama “Tėvas” (“Father”; in the later edition of “Father and Son”), staged in 1945 in Šiauliai, and in 1959 in the Klaipeda Drama Theater.

Author of the comedy “Dūmai” (“Smoke”; staged at the Panevezys Drama Theater , 1955), the tragedy “Herkus Mantas” (“Herkus Mantas”; staged at the Kaunas Music and Drama Theater, 1957), the play “Vedybų sukaktis” (“Wedding Anniversary” "; Staged at the Kaunas Music and Drama Theater, 1959), drama " Profesorius Markas Vidinas " (" Professor Mark Vidin "; staged at the Kaunas Drama Theater , 1962), drama " Adomo Brunzos paslaptis " (" The Secret of Adomas Brunzy "; staged in Panevezys Drama Theater , 1966; in the same year in Rakvere , in 1975 in Kustanai ), the tragicomedy „Mei lė, džiazas ir velnias “ (“ Love, Jazz and the devil ”; staged at the Liepaja State Theater in 1966 , in Panevezys in 1967, in Šiauliai and Viljandi in 1969), the tragicomedy “ Pijus nebuvo protingas ” (“ Pijus not was smart ”; premiere in Panevezys, 1974).

In addition to the play about Hercus Mantas , he wrote a number of historical dramas - “Barbora Radvilaitė” (Barbora Radvilaite, 1972 ), Švitrigaila (Shvitrigaila, 1976 ), Mykolas Glinskis (Mikhail Glinsky, 1984 ).

Grushas's plays and stories have been translated into Armenian, Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Hungarian, Latvian, German, Polish, Russian, Uzbek, Ukrainian, and Estonian ^[4] . He translated the plays Brigadier and Undergrowth by Denis Fonvizin (1948), the historical novel Dmitry Donskoy by Sergei Borodin , and the historical novel Ivan the Terrible by Valentin Kostylev (1951-1952) ^[5] .

In Russian

• The mystery of Adomas Brunza. Plays. Moscow: Soviet writer, 1972. 406 p.

• 1937 - Literary Prize of the Spindulys Publishing House (for the collection of short stories Sunki ranka , Heavy Hand).
• 1957 - State Prize of the Lithuanian SSR (for the tragedy of "Herkus Mantas" , "Herkus Mantas").
• 1962 - Honored Artist of the Lithuanian SSR.
• 1968 - Prize of the Komsomol of Lithuania (for the play “Meilė, džiazas ir velnias” , “Love, Jazz and the Devil”).
• 1971 - People's writer of the Lithuanian SSR.
• 1976 - State Prize of the Lithuanian SSR (for the plays Švitrigaila , Barbora Radvilaitė , Pijus nebuvo protingas ).
• 2001 - Honorary Citizen of Kaunas (posthumous). ^[6]

In 1976, a documentary film “Laimingasis - tai aš” (“Lucky is me”; scriptwriters Pyatras Palilenis and Vityanis Imbrasas) was created at the Lithuanian film studio . Sculptor Danute Danite-Varnauskene created portrait busts of Grushas ( 1972 , 1976 ). In 1987, the street in the Kaunas microdistrict Šilainiai was named after the playwright.

In 1989, the memorial museum of Juozas Grushas, ​​a branch of the Maironis Museum of Lithuanian Literature, began to operate in a house in Kaunas on Kalneciu Street, where the writer lived since 1938. In 2009, a stylized high relief was installed at the entrance to the memorial museum.

In 1998, the name of Juozas Grushas was assigned to one of the schools in Kaunas. In 2001, to the centenary of its birth, a poster (artist Romualdas Charna) and a registered postal envelope (artists Gedimins Pampe and Romualdas Charna) were issued. ^[2]

In 2001, the Juozas Grushas Literary Prize for the best work of Lithuanian literature of the last five years was renewed ^[7] .

• Dagytė, Emilija; Straukaitė, Danutė. Grušas Juozas // Tarybų Lietuvos rašytojai. Biografinis žodynas. - Vilnius: Vaga, 1975 .-- pp. 56-57. - 66 p. - 30,000 copies.
• Juozas Grušas // Lietuvių rašytojai. Biobliografinis žodynas. A — J. - Vilnius: Vaga, 1979. - S. 594-605. - 774 s.

• Juozas Grušas (lit.) . Žymūs Kauno žmonės: atminimo įamžinimas . Kauno apskrities viešoji biblioteka (2004). Date of treatment February 19, 2017.
• Juozas Grušas (lit.)
• Juozas Grušas (English)