Dzūkijos kraštotyrininkas Juozas Radziukynas (1844-1925)

LT1865 m. Vilniaus generalgubernatoriui panaikinus Laikinąją Vilniaus archeologijos komisiją, Lietuvos archeologiją, etnografiją, liaudies meną, lietuvių kalbą ir tautosaką tyrinėjo pavieniai asmenys. Tarp Lietuvos kultūros paminklų apsaugos pradininkų Jono Basanavičiaus, Tado Daugirdo, Eduardo Volterio, Antano Jaroševičiaus, Vandalino Šukevičiaus yra ir primirštas Dzūkijos kraštotyrininkas Juozas Radziukynas. „Mažojoje lietuviškojoje enciklopedijoje“ jo gimtinė buvo pažymėta klaustuku. [Iš teksto, p. 201]

ENJuozas Radziukynas was born on May 24, 1844 in Sutrė village, which was located in Suvalkai province, Seinai county, on the southern shore of Lake Dusia, near the main road that once connected the old Merkinė with Prussia. Now Sutrė is in Lazdijai district, Lithuania. In 1866 Juozas Radziukynas began studying at the Warsaw High School, which in 1869 was reorganize into the University of Warsaw. He graduated in 1871. Until 1911 he lived in Warsaw. Starting from 1872 he worked in various schools in Warsaw, teaching Greek and Latin, later teaching the Polish language as well. Between 1890 and 1894 Juozas Radziukynas started a family. In 1894 he had a daughter. In 1898 he had two children, and in 1903 - three. One of the most important moments in Juozas Radziukynas’ life was his involvement in the national liberation movement. In 1888 Lithuanians who lived in Warsaw had an idea to establish a newspaper – magazine. Later the group was called the Lithuanian Society Varpas (Bell). The aim of the society was to unite Lithuanians living in Warsaw and arouse their patriotic feelings. In 1889 magazine Varpas, which was dedicated to the Lithuanian intelligentsia, was published for the first time. In 1890 the society started to publish magazine Ūkininkas (Farmer), which was for rural people. In the first year of Varpas publication, Juozas Radziukynas wrote an article on pedagogy entitled „Should scourges be thrown out of schools?“ and some articles about Dzūkija. He wrote about the history of Lithuania in Ūkininkas, but later the articles were moved to Varpas, where separate parts were printed until 1895. Juozas Radziukynas wrote under the pseudonyms of Dzūkas and Son of Lithuania. He wrote in Polish while priest Staugaitis translated his articles into Lithuanian.In 1898 six letters were published in the US in Lithuanian weekly magazine Vienybė Lietuvninkų (Unity of Lithuanians). Juozas Radziukynas published two very valuable works based on his own observations in the ethnographic magazine Wisla: the article „Dusia” (1899) and the studio „Dzuki” (1900). In 1909 he published book Mounds of Suvalkai Region with a Map. For a long time, only the works of Juozas Radziukynas were known, but there was very little information about his personality and his life. Only at the end of the 20th century the articles by Juozas Petrauskas, Bronius Kašelionis and Eugenijus Svetikas appeared in the press, describing life and creative activities of Juozas Radziukynas. After getting acquainted with his work, we can rightly call Juozas Radziukynas the pioneer of Užnemunė local history and ethnography. [From the publication]