Kazimieras Venclauskis

Kazimieras Venclauskis (27 February 1880 – 24 February 1940) was a Lithuanian attorney, politician, and philanthropist.

After graduating from the University of Tartu and completing the mandatory five-year practice at a court and prosecutor's office, he moved to Šiauliai where he established a successful private law practice in 1908 and lived until his death. Venclauskis joined the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania in 1902 and was active during the Russian Revolution of 1905. He was elected to the Šiauliai City Duma in 1911 and planned to run in the election to the Russian State Duma in 1912, but an arrest by police spoiled the plans. He was an active member or chairman of various Lithuanian societies, including Žvaigždė and Jėga that organized Lithuanian schools and Varpas that organized amateur theater performances and other cultural events.

After World War I, he was briefly elected as the first burgermeister of Šiauliai. He was elected to the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania in May 1920 and reelected to the First Seimas in October 1922. He then returned to the Šiauliai City Council, serving as chairman (1925–1931) and member (1935–1939). His lucrative private attorney practice, which focused on commercial representation and arbitration, allowed him to become a philanthropist. Together with his wife, he sheltered and raised over a hundred orphans and foundlings and otherwise supported various students. In 1925, he became chairman of Kultūra Society which published Lithuanian books. He worked to establish a professional theater in Šiauliai in 1930 and co-founded a construction company to build a modern theater hall which has housed the since 1941. His former home in Šiauliai now hosts a section of the .

Biography In Russian Empire

Venclauskis was born to a family of Lithuanian peasants near Plungė. He studied at a primary school in before transferring to Palanga Progymnasium. There he tutored future general Vladas Nagevičius and was a classmate with future President of Lithuania Antanas Smetona.