Sigitas Geda

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Sigitas Zigmas Geda (born February 4, 1943 in Paterai , Lazdijai district , † December 12, 2008 in Vilnius ) was a Lithuanian writer and translator and one of the leading figures in the literary life of the again independent Lithuania after 1990. During the time of social upheaval From 1988 to 1990 he held a leading position in the Sąjūdis renewal and independence movement.

Family, training, professional life

Sigitas Geda was born in the southern Lithuanian region of Suvalkija . After graduating from school, he began to study liturgical and literary studies in Vilnius, which he graduated in 1966. His participation in the magazines Kalba Vilnius and Mūsų gamta ( Our Nature ) was terminated in 1976 because of insubordinate views. From 1992 until his death he worked as a literary editor for the cultural magazine Šiaurės Atėnai ( Athens of the North ). He died of natural causes in his apartment in Vilnius after he had complained to the court (see below) about high blood pressure the day before.

writer

From 1966 he appeared as a writer, his first publication was the volume of poetry Die Fuß . The following year he became a member of the Lithuanian Writers' Union. Other volumes of poetry, plays and poetry translations followed. With the onset of social change of perestroika in 1985, Gedas became more well-known among the public. For the volume of poetry Varnėnas po mėnulio ( The Star Under the Moon , 1984) he was awarded the Lithuanian State Prize. The best-known works were Septynių vasarų giesmės ( The Songs of Seven Summers , 1991) and Babilono atstatymas ( The Building of Babel , 1994), for which he was awarded the national prize in 1995. In 2002, his collection of poems, Sokratas kalbasi su vėju ( Socrates Talking to the Wind ), was named the best book of 2001 by the Lithuanian Writers' Union. His works have been translated into Russian, Polish, Latvian, Norwegian, Swedish and also into German ( Gedichte , Baltos lankos, Vilnius, 2002). He also translated numerous poets into Lithuanian (including Dante Alighieri , Paul Celan and Johannes Bobrowski ).

Work characterization

Sigitas Geda's work is characterized by the search for the unifying factor across all ages and between cosmos, earth and man. He is interested in what remains in the constant renewal of the world, the becoming and passing away. Myths, history and everyday experiences are interwoven in his poems. Geda was very interested in the origin of the language, played with it and with the most varied of lyrical forms: classical quatrains , sonnets , Far Eastern haiku . His poems exude wit and liveliness.

Sąjūdis activist

With the break-up of communist structures as a result of glasnost and the growing protest movement in Lithuania, Geda became one of its most famous protagonists. He was one of 35 members of the Sąjūdis Initiative Group in June 1988. During this time, he also served as secretary of the Lithuanian Writers' Union (1988–1990).

Assault lawsuit

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

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Footnotes

  1. ↑ Death news on alfa.lt (lit.)
personal data
SURNAME Geda, Sigitas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Geda, Sigitas Zigmas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lithuanian writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 4, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Paterai , Lazdijai County , Lithuanian SSR
DATE OF DEATH December 12, 2008
Place of death Vilnius