Elena Viktorija Nakaitė-Arbačiauskienė-Arbienė

(Alė Rūta)

Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) 16-11-1915 ‖ California 31-12-2011

Period of activity: From 1946 until 2010

Geographical classification: America > United States

Socio-cultural movements

Late modern period / Contemporary period

Groups by dedication

Writers

Writers > Poets

Context of feminine creation

Alė Rūta was a long-term member-secretary of the Lithuanian Writers' Association of the Diaspora. She and her friends organized literary evenings together with the chairman of this society, the poet Bernardas Brazdžionis. Creative friendship with Bernardas is reflected in many of her poems and many poems were dedicated to him. She was an active member of the community in the Lithuanian diaspora in the USA. Although living in the U.S., she placed great emphasis on preserving patriotism in both the community and her family. After the tragic death of her son, Ale released a collection of poetry that reflected her mother's deep sadness.

Other exiled Lithuanian women writers of the same period were Birutė Pūkelevičiūtė and Liūnė Sutema.

Review

Alė was a Lithuanian writer, poet and prose writer and a public figure in Lithuanian society in the United States.

Justifications

She was a journalist, public figure, and writer.
Poetry, collections of novels, short stories, travel impressions, memoirs, and dramatic works for children.
In her stories to children, she emphasized essential values: courtesy, service, kindness, mutual understanding, faith in God, and love for the homeland and parents. It is interesting to note that Alė Rūta also emphasized the importance of etiquette in eating in her novels for children.

Biography

She was born in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg), where her parents had fled during World War I. 1918; the family returned to Lithuania and lived in Rudžiai village.

1934 graduated from Rokiškis Gymnasium. 1934 her father entered the Dotnuva Agricultural Academy to study agronomy. But she soon dropped out of those studies and, in the same year, began studying Lithuanian studies at Kaunas Vytautas Magnus University. 1935–1937 studied at Klaipėda Pedagogical Institute, acquired the speciality of the Lithuanian language teacher.

1944 went to the western world, where she studied briefly at the University of Vienna and worked in a kindergarten. In Germany, she chose the nickname Alė Rūta, and that's why she wrote in her manuscripts in green colour.

1948 moved to Detroit, USA, around 1952 to Santa Monica, California, where she remained until the end of her life. In the diaspora, she worked actively in the Lithuanian community. As a hard-working reviewer and organizer, she assisted many diaspora press publications and cultural gatherings. Since 1946 belonged to the Lithuanian Writers' Association and worked for a long time as the secretary of its board. 1948–1949 Chairwoman of the Detroit Lithuanian Women's Art and Culture Association.

Works

Be tavęs (Without you) (1946)
Likimo keliu (The way of faith) (1947)
Duktė (Daughter) (1953)
Trumpa diena (Short day) (1955)

Bibliography

Žvilgsnis į Alės Rūtos gyvenimą ir kūrybą - the view at the life and creativ work of Alė Rūta.

https://knyga.kvb.lt/lt/parodos/personaliju-parodos/item/60-zvilgsnis-i-ales-rutos-gyvenima-ir-kuryba

Didactic approach

Lithuanian Literature.