Sigitas Geda

Sigitas Zigmas Geda ( born February 4, 1943 in Paterai, County Lazdijai, † December 12, 2008 in Vilnius ) was a Lithuanian writer and translator, and one of the leading literary personalities of the newly independent Lithuania after 1990 In the period of social upheaval. 1988-1990 he held a leading position in the renewal and independence movement Sąjūdis.

Family, Education, Professional

Sigitas Geda was born in the southern region Lithuanian Suvalkija. After finishing school he began studying Lituanistik and literature in Vilnius, where he graduated in 1966. His involvement in the magazines Kalba Vilnius and Mūsų gamta ( Our Nature) has stopped due to insubordinate views in 1976. From 1992 he worked until his death as a literary editor of the cultural magazine Šiaurės Atenai ( Athens of the North ). He died of natural causes at his home in Vilnius, after he had the previous day in court (see below) complained of high blood pressure.

Writer

In 1966, he joined as a writer in appearance, his first release was the book of poems The feet. The following year he became a member of the Lithuanian Writers' Union. It was followed by other volumes of poetry, plays and poetry translations. With the beginning of the social changes of perestroika from 1985 also Gedas awareness rose in public. For the book of poems Varnėnas po mėnulio ( The Star under the Moon, 1984), he was awarded the Lithuanian National Prize. This was followed by a best known works Septynių vasarų giesmės ( The songs of seven summers, 1991) and Babilono atstatymas ( The building of Babel, 1994), for which he was awarded the 1995 National Prize. In 2002 his poetry collection sokratas kalbasi su was Veju (Socrates converses with the wind) by the Lithuanian Writers' Association as the best book of the year 2001. Translations of his works were made into Russian, Polish, Latvian, Norwegian, Swedish and into German ( poems, Baltos lankos, Vilnius, 2002). He also translated numerous poets into Lithuanian (including Dante Alighieri, Paul Celan and Johannes Bobrowski ).

Factory characterization

Sigitas Gedas work is marked by the search for the Unifying all times across and between cosmos, earth and man. He is interested in what is in the constant renewal of the world, the growth and decay. In his poems, myths, history and everyday experience are interwoven. Geda was very interested in the origin of language, played with her and with a wide variety of lyrical forms: classic quatrains, sonnets, Far Eastern haiku. His poems exude the spirit of wit and vivacity.

Sąjūdis activist

With the breakup of the communist structures as a result of glasnost and the resurgent protest movement in Lithuania became one of its most famous protagonists Geda. He was one of 35 members of the initiative group of Sąjūdis in June 1988. During this time he also served as secretary of the Lithuanian Writers' Union ( 1988-90).

Process for assault

In 2007 he had to answer in court for assault on his daughter Ursule. He was found guilty of having his daughter attacked in dispute on 18 January 2007 with a knife and sentenced to three years' imprisonment in an open prison. One day before his death, he had admitted his guilt before the court and, assisted by his daughter, applied for because of his poor health to bail. Sigitas Geda was addicted to alcohol for a long time.