Lithuanian literary scholar Petras Bražėnas dies

Petras Bražėnas, a literary scholar, critic and educator who devoted decades to Lithuania’s writers, has died in his 86th year. The Lithuanian Writers’ Union remembered him as one of its most engaging longtime critics and as a man who rarely refused a request for help.

“Petras Bražėnas sincerely served his fellow writers and understood his mission as a critic,” said Birutė Jonuškaitė, the union’s chairwoman, prose writer and translator. She recalled how he read almost all of his colleagues’ books, especially works of prose, and discussed them in writing and in public events across Lithuania.

Bražėnas was born on Jan. 1, 1941, in Mažeikiai, in the Molėtai district. After working as a stonecutter and a cultural center director, he studied Lithuanian language and literature at Vilnius University from 1960 to 1965. He later taught in Molėtai and earned a doctoral degree in philology in 1978.

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Petras Bražėnas sincerely served his fellow writers and understood his mission as a critic

His work with the writers’ community included serving as secretary of the Lithuanian Writers’ Union board from 1976 to 1990 and as its first secretary from 1985 to 1990. He belonged to the union from 1975 and spent years on the editorial board of the weekly Literatūra ir menas.

From 1990 to 2013, Bražėnas taught at Vilnius Pedagogical University, later known as the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences. He became dean of its Faculty of Lithuanian Studies in 1992 and later served as a professor of Lithuanian literature. His books included studies and criticism collections such as Ties dešimtmečių riba, Žmogus ir žodis prozoje, Romano šiokiadieniai ir šventės, a monograph on Juozas Aputis, and Rudeninės pabiros. Jonuškaitė also praised his literary evenings, saying audiences knew that an event he led would not be boring.

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The halls were full because everyone knew that if Petras Bražėnas led the evening, it would not be boring