Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas

Vincas Mykolaitis, known by his pen name Putinas (literally Viburnum); 6 January 1893 – 7 June 1967), was a Lithuanian writer, poet and translator, accorded the honour of being a People's Writer of the Lithuanian SSR in 1963. He was also a Catholic priest, but renounced his priesthood in 1935.

Biography In 1909, Mykolaitis enrolled to the Sejny Priest Seminary, after few years he published his first poem. In 1915, he was ordained as a priest, however he questioned his mission as a priest. Later he continued studies at the Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy. In Saint Petersburg, Mykolaitis published his first collection of poems in 1917. After Saint Petersburg, Mykolaitis continued his studies at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and received doctoral degree in 1922.

In 2002, a memorial museum of Putinas was opened at Rygiškių Jonas Gymnasium in Marijampolė.