Lietuvos inteligento likimas XX amžiuje: Valentinas Gustainis epochos lūžiuose

LTStraipsnyje nagrinėjama žymaus Nepriklausomos Lietuvos visuomenės veikėjo, žurnalisto, tremtinio ir GULAG’o kalinio Valentino Gustainio asmenybės ir intelektualinė biografija. Ji nušviečiama chronologine seka, daugiausia dėmesio skiriant 1918-1940 m. laikotarpiui ir paskutiniesiems penkiolikai gyvenimo Lietuvoje metų, kada buvo parašyti jo reikšmingi veikalai. V. Gustainio likimas atspindėjo gyvenamos epochos įvykius, prieštaravimus ir lūžius. Jaunystėje tapęs A. Smetonos šalininku V. Gustainis susiejo savo visuomeninę ir kūrybinę veiklą su tautininkais, bet pasižymėjo nuosaikumu. Šis bruožas, kaip ir kultūringa polemika su oponentais, būdinga jo kūrybai tiek Nepriklausomoje Lietuvoje, tiek paskutiniaisiais gyvenimo metais. Straipsnyje taikomi aprašomasis ir analitinis tyrimo metodai, o pagrindiniai šaltiniai - publikuotas paties V. Gustainio kūrybinis palikimas ir archyvinė medžiaga, susijusi su jo biografija. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Atsiminimai; Laikraštis „Lietuvos aidas“; 20 amžius; Lietuvių žurnalistas; Tremtis; Valentinas Gustainis; Daily newspaper of the Lietuvos Aidas; Exile; Lithuania in 1918-1940; Lithuanian journalist; Memoir; Valentinas Gustainis.

ENThe life of Valentinas Gustainis (1896-1971) was a reflection of the events and contradictions of his epoch. Born to the family of moderately living peasants on the outskirts of the then Russian Empire, he became one of the most prominent journalists and public figures of Independent Lithuania as well as the editor-in-chief of the official paper of the Nationalist government Lietuvos aidas. Gustainis sought to maintain a moderate type of the authoritarian regime, which was also in line with the principles of President Antanas Smetona. Despite being close to the authoritarian president, Gustainis did not take up any important public post; he remained a journalist. Only in the autumn of 1939 he was appointed the director of the Lithuanian telegraph agency ELTA; however, in June 1940 force majeure put his short career in the civil service as well as his activities in the position of a journalist to an end. In June 1941 Gustainis and his family were deported to Altai Region in Siberia, and in 1945 he was imprisoned in the forced labour camps in Siberia and Kazakhstan until November 1954. In 1956 Gustainis and his family returned to Lithuania. Deprived of the right to settle in Kaunas, he and his wife lived in a small town of Užnemunė. He translated three novels of foreign authors into Lithuanian, wrote extensive memoirs, a philosophical treatise and collected ethnographical material. The deportation and labour camps did not destroy Gustainis’ intellect and his will. His creative work after the return to Lithuania from Siberia is a testimony of the historical epoch and the noble personality of the author, though it was published 15 years after the death of the author. [From the publication]