Pulgis Andriušis

Pulgis Andriušis (born Fulgencijus Andrusevičius; 31 March 1907 – 19 December 1970) was a Lithuanian writer, translator and journalist.

Biography Pulgis Andriušis was born on 31 March 1907 in the village of Gaidžiai, which belonged to the Kovno Governorate of the Russian Empire. He attended the Utena "Saulė" Gymnasium where he graduated from five grades. Later he began attending the Kaunas "Aušra" Gymnasium. In the Gymnasium, he began publishing a caricature newspaper entitled Šepseliada. Both in literary form and in subject matter, which concerned the topic of teachers, it was an exceptional publication in the school's history. A total of three issues were made, with Andriušis illustrating all of them. Although Andriušis was mocking his teachers and the phenomena of everyday life at the gymnasium, when moving from the seventh grade to the eighth grade, the math teacher A. Račiukaitis gave the student a failing grade which would have required him to stay in the seventh grade to repeat the course. With the mediation of the director of the gymnasium Mykolas Biržiška, the grade was corrected and the condition that Andriušis would leave the gymnasium and transfer to another school. The second and third part of Šepseliada was published while he was still studying at the adult gymnasium of the Kaunas Trade Union of Teachers, but the newspaper continued to be distributed at the "Aušra" Gymnasium. After graduating in 1926, Andriušis began writing humoristic stories based on village life. From 1927 to 1930 he studied at the Kaunas School of Arts, but did not graduate from it, and instead chose to study the Lithuanian language at Vytautas Magnus University. He also studied natural sciences, English studies, and theater studies. Balys Sruoga, who was a professor at the university, suggested Andriušis adopt the pseudonym Pulgis. A polyglot, Andriušis spoke 10 languages, including Esperanto, as well as German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, and Arabic. In 1938 he married Marija Chodauskaitė, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. He translated various books, including Roland Dorgelès's Wooden Crosses, and most famously, both parts of Cervantes's Don Quixote in 1942.

Andriušis fled Lithuania in 1944 to Tübingen, Germany.

Writing Andriušis's works are characterized by anecdotal situations and mockery, as well as a person's relationship with nature.