Sofija Pšibiliauskienė

Sofija Pšibiliauskienė née Ivanauskaitė (; September 16, 1867 in Paragiai, Shavelsky Uyezd, Kovno Governorate – March 15, 1926 in Paragiai) and Marija Lastauskienė were two Lithuanian sister writers of Polish origin, using the same pen name Lazdynų Pelėda (Hazel Owl).

Biography Pšibiliauskienė was born to an impractical painter of Polish–Lithuanian nobility stock. Pšibiliauskienė did not have formal education and self-educated reading various sentimental novels by Polish authors. She then returned to her childhood home in Paragiai, where she died in 1926. Since 1966, a museum is established in her former farmstead. In 1993, a monument to the sisters was erected in Vilnius (sculptor Dalia Matulaitė, architects Jūras Balkevičius and Rimantas Buivydas).

Works Pšibiliauskienė started writing after encouragement from Povilas Višinskis in 1898. She first contributed to various Lithuanian periodicals, including Varpas and Ūkininkas.

In 1907, her sister Marija Lastauskienė also moved to Vilnius. Encouraged by Pšibiliauskienė, Lastauskienė would write in Polish, her sister would translate and edit the works, and publish them under the pen name Lazdynų Pelėda. The public did not know that there are two people writing under the same name. Literary critics tend to treat this body of works as one item as they are similar in themes and language.