Povilas Višinskis

Who was Povilas Višinskis?

Povilas Višinskis was a Lithuanian writer, journalist, theatre director, and politician. His pen names include A. – s, Blinda, P – V, P. A., Apaštalas, P. Šiaulietis. He was one of the founders of the Lithuanian Democratic Party. He contributed and edited various Lithuanian periodicals, most notably Varpas, Vilniaus žinios, and Lietuvos ūkininkas. He is also remembered as a mentor of literary talent. He discovered Žemaitė and advised to Lazdynų Pelėda, Šatrijos Ragana, Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė, Jonas Biliūnas, Jonas Krikščiūnas. Višinskis also directed and played the main role in the first Lithuanian-language play Amerika pirtyje in 1899. When advertisements for another play printed in Lithuanian using Latin alphabet were confiscated by police as violating the Lithuanian press ban, Višinskis sued and obtained a favorable judgment from the Supreme Court of Appeals in 1903. This lawsuit helped to end the ban in 1904.