Nepriklausomybės Akto signataras Jokūbas Šernas

LT1918 metų vasario 16 dieną teisininkas Jokūbas Šernas Lietuvos Nepriklausomybės Aktą pasirašė būdamas 29-erių metų ir buvo vienas iš trijų signatarų, dar neturėjusių 30-ies1. Be tos aplinkybės, kad buvo vienas iš jauniausių valstybės kūrėjų, jis buvo ir vienintelis evangelikas reformatas. Jį kaip valstybininką geriausiai charakterizuoja Lietuvos Tarybos generalinio sekretoriaus pareigos - jo rankos lietė svarbiausius kuriamos valstybės dokumentus, eidamas jas 1918 metų liepos 11 dieną pasiūlė Lietuvos Tarybai institucijos pavadinime įterpti žodį „Valstybės“. Dar 1926 metais Jokūbo Šerno amžininkai atkreipė dėmesį, kad jo asmenybę per greitai linkstama užmiršti ir kad jo nuopelnai bei reikšmė moderniosios Lietuvos Valstybės kūrimui slepiami po politinėmis ir partinėmis intrigomis. [Iš Įvado]

ENA Lithuanian lawyer Jokūbas Sernas had signed the Act of Independence on 16 of February 1918. He was 29 then and one of the youngest members of the Council of Lithuania. Besides, J. Sernas was the only man from signatories who belonged to the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania. As a statesman he was engaged in secretary duties. The secretary of the Council of Lithuania worked on almost all important documents of reinstating statehood. On July 11,1918, the secretary J. Sernas had proposed to insert the word ‘state’ into the name of the only Lithuanian political institution. It’s hard to reconstruct a comprehensive biography ofj. Sernas, because his life was too short and he haven’t had enough time to rethink his legacy in memoirs. Perhaps other reason was in line of the culture of Protestant ethics which priority is to act but not to speak about. In absence of diary or memoirs and lack of private correspondence it is hard to tell how J. Sernas dealt with various circumstances in life. His importance in modern history of Lithuania goes far beyond the signature on the Act of Independence. Premature death of 38 years old signatory probably is the reason why he was forgotten. Historical memory of Lithuanian signatories was still in formation in 1926. It was not so far from 1918. Lithuanian people didn’t see them as ‘The Founding Fathers’ yet.Jokūbas Sernas had studied at prestigious Dorpat (Tartu) and St. Petersburg universities in the Russian Empire. He obtained legal qualifications which helped a lot in later activities in Lithuanian organizations. He was member of The Lithuanian Society to Aid War Victims from 1915 and served as a tutor of orphanage in Šnipiškės, also fulfilled duties of secretary of the Committee of Education which was responsible for establishing and running of Lithuanian schools. J. Šernas had started political activity about 1916 as a member of so-called the Vilnius Lithuanians political group. He was elected to the Lithuanian Council on September 1917. Consistently supported the idea of a constitutional monarchy as the most appropriate form of government for Lithuanians. After February 16,1918 signing the Act of Independence, he became the secretary of the Lithuanian Council. He held this important position until April 1919. On July 11, 1918, on J. Šernas proposal, the only Lithuanian authority was renamed to the Council of State Lithuania in order to emphasize the fact that Lithuania is already a state. The German administration did not want to reckon with it for its own purposes. Besides, in Polish and German translation, the Lithuanian land meant a regional non-state unit. J. Šernas participated in the drafting of the Lithuanian Constitution in 1919, also held the post of minister without portfolio. J. Šernas was entrusted with a strategically important mission to pave the way for the unification of Lithuania Minor with the Republic of Lithuania. The result of his efforts was the meeting of the Council of the State of Lithuania on March 20, 1920, when three delegates from Lithuania Minor were co-opted.J. Šernas was politically inclined towards tautininkai (the Nationalists Party). For some time he belonged to the Nation’s Progress Party. In 1920 and during the election to the Seimas, he served as vice-chairman of this party. In the summer of 1924, J. Šernas contributed to the organization of the founding congress of the Union of Nationalists in Šiauliai. He soon moved to the Farmers Union, which had similar program and headed its Kaunas branch. On June 15,1925, J. Šernas became the first director ofthe Municipal Department of the Ministry of the Interior. In 1919 he was elected to the Council of the Bank of Trade and Industry of Lithuania, and after three years he became a member of the Board of this bank and one of directors. He was one of the authors of the government loan project, urging citizens to buy government bonds to support the institution-building and budget-collecting state. In 1922, he contributed to the restoration and development of the breweries in Šiauliai and Kaunas. J. Šernas was the only Evangelical Reformer out of from the twenty signatories of the Act of Independence who actively participated in the activities of the Evangelical Reformed Church and since 1918 he has been the curator of the Synod. This versatile social and political activity of J. Šernas significantly contributed to the restoration of the Lithuanian state and its consolidation. [From the publication]