Julius Janonis

Julius Janonis (4 April 1896 – 30 May 1917) 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 the 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 (bolsheviks) and was imprisoned twice for revolutionary activities. He contracted tuberculosis and, unwilling to become a burden, took his life at 21. In the Lithuanian SSR, Janonis was hailed as the "first poet of the proletariat".

Biography Early life and education in Biržai Janonis was born in near Biržai in the then Russian Empire. His parents were poor peasants and belonged to the Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Church.