Review

She is considered the pioneer of feminism in Lithuania. She believed the education of women and girls to be one of the primary responsibilities of her life. And while there was a relatively modest way, the Witch of Shatriya had enough ambition and courage to carry out her ideas, which were helpful to others.

Justifications

• She was a writer.
• Šatrijos Ragana is also one of the first professional Lithuanian children's writers.
• She wrote a lot about women.
• Interestingly, the Witch of Šatrija came to Lithuanian literature from an opposite pole - a Polish manor. Having mastered the Lithuanian language and succumbing to the wave of Lithuanian nationalist liberation, she became an important figure in society at that time. Her courage and determination are also proved by the fact that Šatrija Ragana was banned from distributing the Lithuanian press (she got a ban from Russian Empire).
• She was the first in Lithuania to raise the consequences of parental divorce for children.

Biography

Born in Medingėnai, Kovno Governorate, to a family of petty Lithuanian nobles, Pečkauskaitė was raised in Polish culture. However, she made friends with local Lithuanian peasants and, influenced by her tutor Povilas Višinskis, joined the Lithuanian National Revival. Because of poor health and expensive tuition, Pečkauskaitė did not graduate from a gymnasium in Saint Petersburg and had to complete her education privately in the Labūnava estate near Užventis. Višinskis translated her first works, written in Polish, into Lithuanian and published in liberal Lithuanian periodicals, such as 'Varpas' and 'Ūkininkas'. However, Pečkauskaitė disagreed with their secular agenda and turned to pro-Catholic 'Tėvynės sargas' and similar newspapers. After her father died in 1898, the family moved to Šiauliai as the old estate had to be sold for debts. In 1905 she received a scholarship from the Žiburėlis Society, established by Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė, to study pedagogy at the University of Zurich and the University of Fribourg. While studying, she met with Friedrich Wilhelm Foerster and was greatly affected by his views on education; she later translated several of his works into Lithuanian. After returning to Lithuania in 1907, Pečkauskaitė briefly stayed in Šaukotas and Vilnius. She participated in the First Congress of Lithuanian Women and was elected its vice-chair. In 1909, she was hired by the Žiburys Society as a teacher at a girls' pre-gymnasium in Marijampolė. In 1915 she moved to Židikai, where she spent her remaining life working as a teacher. She was involved in the town's cultural life, promoting teetotalism, organizing a youth chorus, and doing other charity work. For her achievements in pedagogy, Pečkauskaitė was awarded an honorary degree of the University of Lithuania in 1928. She died in Židikai (Lithuania).

Works

Bibliography

Brigita Speičytė, “Šatrijos Ragana”, šaltiniai.info (http://www.xn--altiniai-4wb.info/index/details/1393)

Didactic approach

Lithuanian Literature.

Documents