Felicija Bortkevičienė

Felicija Bortkevičienė née Povickaitė (1 September 1873 – 21 October 1945) was a Lithuanian politician and long-term publisher of Lietuvos ūkininkas and Lietuvos žinios. She became active in public life after she moved to Vilnius 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 the Lithuanian Democratic Party, the Peasant Union, and the Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union. She was a delegate to the Great Seimas of Vilnius, was elected to the Constituent 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 the Tsarist regime, and deported Prussian Lithuanians. She was also a member of the women's movement in Lithuania, being an active member of the Lithuanian Women's Association and the chair of the Lithuanian Women's Union. For her various activities, Bortkevičienė was arrested and imprisoned numerous times by different regimes, including Tsarist Russia, independent Lithuania, and Soviet Lithuania.

Biography

Early life

She was born in the Manor of Linkaučiai near Krekenava, then part of the Russian Empire, to the family of Juozas Povickas and Antanina Ona Liutkevičiūtė, petty Lithuanian nobles. The family's manor was confiscated for their participation in the Uprising of 1863 and the family moved to Antakalnis village, southeast of Ukmergė.