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Povilas Lukšys (soldier)

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Povilas Lukšys
Portrait of Lukšys in the magazine Kardas
Born(1886-06-21)21 June 1886
Kazokai [lt], Russian Empire
Died8 January 1919(1919-01-08) (aged 32)
Taučiūnai, Lithuania
AllegianceImperial Russian Army
Lithuanian Army
AwardsOrder of the Cross of Vytis

Povilas Lukšys (21 August 1886 – 8 February 1919) was the first Lithuanian Army soldier who died for the independence of Lithuania in the Lithuanian Wars of Independence.[1]

Biography

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Lukšys was born in Kazokai [lt] in the present-day Panevėžys District Municipality. During World War I, Lukšys served in the Imperial Russian Army. When the Lithuanian army began to be recreated as Lithuania regained its independence, Lukšys organized a group of volunteers. He was an officer of the Kėdainiai defence squad, the commander of the field guard as well as the deputy head of the reconnaissance squad.[1] In the Kėdainiai county, Lukšys was involved in battles against Soviet Russian units that were attacking in the direction of Kaunas.[1]

Lukšys died on 8 February 1919 while carrying out a reconnaissance mission near the village of Taučiūnai, where a fierce shootout took place. Lukšys was buried in the Kėdainiai cemetery. Later, other volunteers who died for Lithuanian independence were also buried there.

Commemoration

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Monument to Povilas Lukšys in Taučiūnai

At the place of Lukšys' death, a monument was built in 1929 according to the plans of the architect Vytautas Landsbergis-Žemkalnis.[1] The one-hectare plot of land where the monument is built was donated by Marijonas Vendziagolskis, the owner of Taučiūnai Manor (who bought it from a farmer and later donated it "for public use").

The monument consisted of three 9-metre (30 ft) long concrete terraces and a three-walled pyramid built on them. The monument reached 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) in height. Its shape symbolized the triangular sign of the volunteers and the three terraces represented the three colors of the national flag of Lithuania.[2] The granite pyramid itself represented eternity. A staircase was installed in the middle of the lower terrace, and the Vytis cross with oak branches and the inscription was carved on the front plane of the pyramid: "On 9 February 1919 volunteer soldier Povilas Lukšys died here in battles with the Russian Red Army – the first victim of Lithuania's Independence".[2]

The monument stood in Taučiūnai until 1962, when it was demolished by order of the Kėdainiai Communist Party Committee,[1] the plot was plowed and planted with beets. In 1989, in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Povilas Lukšys' death, a wooden cross was erected in this place. On 16 February 1993, the monument was rebuilt.[1] The monument was also consecrated.

Povilas Lukšys on a stamp celebrating thde jure recognition of Lithuania by other countries in 1922

A monument to Lukšys was also built in the garden of the Vytautas the Great War Museum in Kaunas.

Awards

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Sources

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Mockienė 2023.
  2. ^ a b Staliūnas 2001, p. 129.

Bibliography

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  • Mockienė, Jurgita (24 January 2023) [2018]. "Povilas Lukšys". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  • Staliūnas, Darius (2001). "Žuvusiųjų karių kultas tarpukario Lietuvoje" (PDF). Lietuvių Atgimimo istorijos studijos (in Lithuanian). 17. ISSN 1392-0391.
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