Review

Gabrielė was a Lithuanian educator, writer, and activist. Her pseudonym Bitė (Bee) eventually became part of her last name. Encouraged by Povilas Višinskis, she joined public life and started her writing career in 1890. She was the founder and chair of the Žiburėlis society to provide financial aid to struggling students, one of the editors of the newspaper Lietuvos žinios, and an active member of the women's movement. In 1920, she was elected to the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania and chaired its first session. Her realist writing centred on exploring the negative impact of social inequality. Her most significant work, the two-part novel Ad Astra (1933), depicts the rising Lithuanian National Revival. Together with Žemaitė, she co-wrote several plays. Her diary was kept during World War I and published in 1925–1931 and 2008–2011.

Justifications

• She was a writer.
• In her works, she discussed various social, spiritual and economic life topics, criticized people's flaws and prejudices, and preached the ideals of humanism, democracy and social equality.
• Pioneer of the women’s movement in Lithuania.

Biography

Gabrielė Petkevičaitė was taught for two years (1866–1868) even by Laurynas Ivinskis himself, a linguist and publisher of the Lithuanian calendar who lived in the Petkevičius House. This personality influenced the formation of Gabrielė's personality, which was later acknowledged by the writer herself.

1885 - in Deltuva completed beekeeping courses, in 1917 she passed the examinations of a paramedic. Until 1901 he lived in Joniškės, assisted his father, who was a doctor and was a teacher for peasant children.

An important detail is Bitė's acquaintance with the writer Žemaitė. Žemaitė even lived with Gabrielė for several years. Although Gabrielė Petkevičaitė was 16 years younger than Žemaitė, these women became friends very quickly and later presented various literary surprises.

Žemaitė also helped Gabriele Petkevičaitė to work in a pharmacy. While working there, they were both looking for plots for comedies - after all, they heard so many characters, people's destinies and interesting stories from gardeners! This is how the tandem "Two Women" appeared, which wrote comic book plays.

Fascinated by the paper „Varpas“ (it was one of the most famous papers in Lithuania) she started writing there. She became a regular correspondent and signed the texts under Bitė's nickname.

Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė joined politics in 1902, joining the Lithuanian Democratic Party. It was important for Bite that there was a place for gender equality in the party's program, and the importance of education was included. 1905 Bitė participated in the Great Seimas of Vilnius. In the same year, the Vilnius Women's Association established the Lithuanian Women's Union, the main goal was to achieve equal rights with men in politics, especially the right to vote. Gabrielė wrote an activity program for this first Lithuanian women's organization.

From 1890 he collaborated in the forbidden Lithuanian periodical. In 1894, together with J. Juškyte, the Žiburėlis Society for the Relief of Pupils and Cultural Workers was established and until 1903 it was headed by it. In 1901–09 and 1914–19, she lived in Puziniškis, later - in Panevėžys. Collaborated with Žemaitė, P. Višinkis. She was one of the organizers of the first public Lithuanian performance in Palanga (1899). In 1905 she participated in the Great Seimas of Vilnius. In 1907 she chaired the Lithuanian Women's Congress. In 1908 she worked in the editorial offices of Vilnius žinios, and in 1909–14 in the editorial offices of Lithuanian news. 1920–22 Representative of the Constituent Seimas, chairwoman of the first sitting (because the oldest representative did not speak Lithuanian). In 1922 she was elected to the First Seimas, but did not participate in this work.

Works

Bibliography

Aušra Filipavičiūtė-Navikauskaitė, “Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė”, 15min.lt 

https://www.15min.lt/media-pasakojimai/gabriele-petkevicaite-bite-540 

Didactic approach

Lithuanian Literature.

Documents