Karolis Požėla

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Karolis Požėla, Soviet postage stamp 1986

Karolis Požėla (born January 17 . Jul / 29. January  1896 greg. In Bardiskiai, Rajon Pakruojis ; † 27. December 1926 in Kaunas ) was a Lithuanian revolutionary and politician . He was a co-founder of the Communist Party of Lithuania (KPL).

Life

Požėla, the son of a farmer, attended high school in Mitau until 1915 . He then studied at the University of Dorpat . There he also joined the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Russia (RSDLP) in 1916 . He took part in both the February and October 1917 revolutions. In the spring of 1918 he organized one of the first cells of the KPL on the territory occupied by the German troops and was a delegate of the illegal founding congress of the party in October 1918. After the fall of Soviet power in Lithuania in August 1919, Požėla worked illegally for the party in Raseiniai and Kaunas. In 1920 he set up the illegal party printing house Spartakas in Kaunas and was editor of the newspaper Tiesa (Truth), the central organ of the KPL, and a number of other party publications. In 1921 Požėla became a member, in 1923 secretary of the KPL Central Committee. In addition, he was a delegate of the Fifth World Congress of the Comintern in 1924 .

After the Smetonas military coup on December 17, 1926, Požėla was arrested and shot along with three other leading Lithuanian communists - Kazys Giedrys , Juozas Greifenbergeris and Rapolas Čarnas .

Honors

A group of sculptures by Bronius Vyšniauskas and Napoleonas Petrulis erected in Kaunas in the 1970s in honor of the four communists has since been removed and is now in Grutas Park .

In 1986 the Soviet Post issued a special postage stamp in honor of Požėla.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Požėla, Karolis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lithuanian communist
DATE OF BIRTH January 29, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Bardiskiai, Pakruojis Raion
DATE OF DEATH December 27, 1926
Place of death Kaunas