Petras Būtėnas

Petras Būtėnas (27 June 1896 – 4 October 1980) was a Lithuanian linguist and public figure. His work was very important in the research of Lithuanian culture.

Early life He had a younger brother .

Interwar From 1919 to 1923, he was a volunteer soldier of the Lithuanian Army. Since 1920, he studied at the and since 1922 in the University of Lithuania. In 1930, Būtėnas graduated from Vytautas Magnus University. He was a student of Kazimieras Būga, Jonas Jablonskis and Juozas Balčikonis. From 1925 to 1944, Būtėnas worked as a teacher in Panevėžys. He taught in the town's teachers' seminary until 1936. Since 1939, he was a member of the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science.

World War II The Soviet authorities imprisoned Būtėnas from July 1940 to January 1941 in the Panevėžys Prison. Together with others, he published the weekly Išlaisvintasis panevėžietis ('The liberated Panevėžian') in 1941.

During 1941–1944, he was the director of Panevėžys Boys' Gymnasium. He left for Germany in 1944.

In emigration He organized courses for Lithuanian teachers and lead those courses in 1945–1948. In 1946, he prepared a summary for the Lithuanian language teachers' courses and gymnasium. From 1945 to 1948, he edited the newspaper Lietuvių informacija ('Lithuanian information'), and in 1946–1948, the magazine Žingsniai ('Steps'). Būtėnas moved to the US in 1949. He worked in the newspaper Keleivis ('Passenger') and in the editorial office of the Lithuanian Encyclopedia.

Academic work Būtėnas researched Lithuanian , accentuation, and ancient ethnically Lithuanian territories. He contributed to the preparation of Lietuvių kalbos žodyno (Lithuanian Dictionary), to which he contributed more than 8,000 words. He collected folklore and prepared Lietuvių tautotyros žinių ir senienų rinkimo programą (Lithuanian Ethnography Knowledge and Antiquities Collection Program) in 1925. Būtėnas collected material for research on old Lithuanian toponymy.