Povilas Višinskis was a Lithuanian cultural and political activist during the Lithuanian National Revival. He is best remembered as a mentor of literary talent. He discovered Julija Žymantienė (Žemaitė) and advised Marija Pečkauskaitė, Sofija Pšibiliauskienė, Gabrielė Petkevičaitė (Bitė), Jonas Biliūnas, Jonas Krikščiūnas (Jovaras), helping them edit and publish their first works.
Povilas Višinskis around 1903
Višinskis' birthplace, now a memorial museum in 2008
Višinskis (standing on the right) with his parents and brother in summer 1896
Photo of Višinskis in Yalta in 1898
Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė
Gabrielė Petkevičaitė was a Lithuanian educator, writer, and activist. Her pen name Bitė (Bee) eventually became part of her last name. Encouraged by Povilas Višinskis, she joined public life and started her writing career in 1890, becoming a prominent member of the Lithuanian National Revival. She was the founder and chair of the Žiburėlis society to provide financial aid to struggling students, one of the editors of the newspaper Lietuvos žinios, and an active member of the women's movement. In 1920, she was elected to the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania and chaired its first session. Her realist writing centered on exploring the negative impact of the social inequality. Her largest work, two-part novel Ad astra (1933), depicts the rising Lithuanian National Revival. Together with Žemaitė, she co-wrote several plays. Her diary, kept during World War I, was published in 1925–1931 and 2008–2011.
Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė
Petkevičaitė-Bitė in her apiary in the 1910s
Petkevičaitė-Bitė (center) with other women delegates of the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania