Kristijonas Donelaitis was a Prussian Lithuanian poet and Lutheran pastor. He lived and worked in Lithuania Minor, a territory in the Kingdom of Prussia, that had a sizable Lithuanian-speaking minority. He wrote the first classic Lithuanian language poem, The Seasons, which became one of the principal works of Lithuanian poetry. The poem, a classic work of Lithuanian literature, depicts everyday life of Lithuanian peasants, their struggle with serfdom, and the annual cycle of life.

Martin Ludwig Jedemin Rhesa was a Lutheran pastor and a professor at the University of Königsberg in East Prussia. He is best remembered as publisher of Lithuanian texts. He was the last prominent prominent advocate of the Lithuanian language in Lithuania Minor.