ENHenrikas Radauskas (1910-1970) holds a unique place in the Lithuanian literature of the 20th century. His work, which grew out of his fascination with the heritage of European culture and combines modernist searches with classicist formal discipline, is still considered a one-of-a-kind artistic proposal in contemporary Lithuanian poetry. However, the choices and fate of the poet himself can be recognised as an exemplification of the choices and fate of many artists from Central and Eastern Europe belonging to the same generation. The article aims to demonstrate those experiences in Radauskas’s biography that were formative and which provoke comparisons to other writers representing the same period in the history of literature and lead to reflection on the essence of a generational community. Keywords: Henrikas Radauskas, Czesław Miłosz, Lithuanian poetry of the 20th century, personality writ large, generational experience. [From the publication]