59 Facts About Juozas Purickis

Juozas Purickis was a prominent diplomat and journalist in interwar Lithuania and served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from June 1920 to December 1921, as well as the acting Prime Minister of Lithuania for two months at the end of 1921 during the leave of absence of Prime Minister Kazys Grinius.

Juozas Purickis was ordained a Roman Catholic priest, but never practiced or performed pastoral work.

Juozas Purickis married in 1926 and was officially defrocked in 1929.

Juozas Purickis continued his studies at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland and in 1916 earned his doctorate of theology with a thesis on the Reformation in Lithuania.

Together with Konstantinas Olsauskas, Juozas Purickis attended Vilnius Conference and presented on the German proposal to establish Kingdom of Lithuania.

On December 12,1921, Juozas Purickis resigned due to a corruption scandal, the so-called saccharin case.

Juozas Purickis started contributing articles, mostly on economic developments and current political affairs, to the Lithuanian press.

Juozas Purickis then devoted his life to journalism and other public work.

Juozas Purickis was editor of the official daily Lietuva and magazine on economy Tautos ukis and author of numerous articles in Lietuvos aidas, Trimitas, Vairas, Musu Vilnius.

Juozas Purickis was chairman of the Lithuanian Journalists' Union from its establishment in 1929 to his death.

Juozas Purickis was an active member of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union and a board member of the League for the Liberation of Vilnius as well as of many different societies, often working on international integration and collaboration.

Juozas Purickis' uncle served 25 years in katorga in Siberia; his parents rented various farms to make a living.

In 1891, Juozas Purickis began his education at the parish school in Stakliskes that he attended with Liudas Gira.

Juozas Purickis showed an aptitude for learning, but due to financial difficulties could not pursue further education for three years and helped his family with farm work.

Juozas Purickis passed four-year school exams in Moscow in 1902 and enrolled into the Kaunas Priest Seminary in 1904.

Juozas Purickis was ordained as subdeacon in June 1909 and deacon in his final year of study.

Juozas Purickis graduated in 1912 with a master's degree in theology and a gold medal for academic excellence.

Juozas Purickis returned to Kaunas and was assigned as a teacher to the Kaunas Priest Seminary.

Juozas Purickis defended his thesis on the reasons for the failure of the Reformation in Lithuania on 25 July 1916 and was awarded a doctorate.

In Switzerland, Juozas Purickis joined Lithuanian cultural life and became a member of Ruta and Lituania student societies.

In November 1915, Juozas Purickis expanded and reorganized the Lituania student society into a society that provided support to Lithuanian prisoners of war in Germany, Austria, and elsewhere.

Juozas Purickis traveled to Marseille to mail the appeal for donation to bishops around the world and personally visited French bishops and priests promoting the donation drive.

Juozas Purickis wrote many articles for these journals and edited Litauen as well as published three separate booklets with his thesis on the Reformation, about Lithuania's economy to encourage foreign trade and investments, and about the ethnic composition of the Grodno Governorate to substantiate Lithuania's territorial claims in the region.

Juozas Purickis attended the Lithuanian conferences during World War I that were held in Switzerland.

Juozas Purickis delivered a speech in which he argued that Lithuania should politically align itself with Germany and United States.

Juozas Purickis then returned to Vilnius and attended a few meetings of the Council of Lithuania.

In Germany, Juozas Purickis worked to garner support for Wilhelm Karl, Duke of Urach, to be elected King of Lithuania.

Juozas Purickis visited the Duke and his family, gathered biographical information and character references, and obtained his tentative agreement to become King of Lithuania.

However, Juozas Purickis continued to spend most of his time in Germany working on Lithuanian diplomatic issues and organizing relief for Lithuanian war victims.

Juozas Purickis was considered for Minister of Education, but Jonas Ycas was chosen instead.

Juozas Purickis returned to Germany working on the German Army withdrawal from Lithuania, German military support in the Lithuanian Wars of Independence, financial support for the newly reestablished Lithuanian State, and official de jure recognition.

In March 1919, Jurgis Saulys was reassigned to represent Lithuania in Switzerland and Juozas Purickis became the Lithuanian Envoys Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Germany.

When Prime Minister Kazys Grinius took a month-long medical leave in October 1921, Juozas Purickis became the acting Prime Minister.

Juozas Purickis, not wanting to risk an incident with the Russians and not having other means of fulfilling the promise, approved the deal.

Juozas Purickis explained that he did not keep very good records due to the post-war chaos and commingled personal and state funds because some funds raised for charitable causes were transferred to his personal accounts due to bureaucratic obstacles.

In 1922, Juozas Purickis spent almost the entire year in Berlin trying to clear up the financial records.

At the very end of the year, Prime Minister Ernestas Galvanauskas invited Juozas Purickis to participate in the Klaipeda Revolt of January 1923 and help Lithuanians capture the Klaipeda Region, then a mandate of the League of Nations under temporary French administration.

Juozas Purickis made declarations and explored possibilities of gaining Klaipeda Region was he was the Minister.

The revolt was a success and Juozas Purickis was offered a job editing Lithuanian newspapers in Klaipeda Region, but refused and returned to Berlin.

Juozas Purickis helped Lithuania to negotiate trade deals with Germany and Sweden.

In March 1925, Juozas Purickis was sent as a special envoy to the Vatican to protest the Concordat with Poland.

Juozas Purickis brought a sternly worded diplomatic note, but could not deliver it to a Vatican official.

In early 1926, Juozas Purickis returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as director of the newly created Economics Department.

In 1926, Juozas Purickis submitted a request to be defrocked but it was granted only in June 1929.

On 20 December 1926, during trade negotiations in Moscow, Juozas Purickis married Elena Skriabina, a Ukrainian lady of Eastern Orthodox faith born in 1900, in a civil ceremony.

Juozas Purickis used pen name Vygandas to avoid personal attacks.

When Lietuva editor Kazimieras Jokantas became the Minister of Education in the cabinet of Vytautas Petrulis in January 1925, Juozas Purickis was invited to become the new editor of Lietuva.

Juozas Purickis improved the newspaper by bolstering its international coverage as well as creating a new dedicated section for articles on economy and an 8-page illustrated supplement on domestic and foreign culture and politics.

Juozas Purickis was replaced as the editor by Pranas Dailide after the May 1926 elections to the Third Seimas of Lithuania in which the Christian Democratic Party lost its parliamentary majority.

Juozas Purickis was the editor at the time of the Great Depression and worsening trade relations between Lithuania and Germany.

Juozas Purickis joined the Society for the Economic Studies and initiated economists' Fridays, a monthly meeting for discussions and debates.

Juozas Purickis wrote numerous articles to various other Lithuanian periodicals, including Lietuvos aidas, Trimitas, Vairas, Musu Vilnius, Musu rytojus, Policija, using many different pen names.

In fall 1925, Juozas Purickis was elected as chairman of the board of the Lithuanian Union of Writers and Journalists.

Juozas Purickis became chairman of the new journalists' union and chaired it until his death.

Juozas Purickis was a member or a board member of many different societies.

Juozas Purickis was vice-chairman of the League for the Liberation of Vilnius, a member of Lithuanian Riflemen's Union, Society for the Support of Lithuanians Abroad, board member of the Lithuanian Homeowners' Association.

Juozas Purickis was not known as an orator and avoided public speaking delivering speeches or lectures only on special occasions.

The Catholic church refused to allow Juozas Purickis to be buried in a Catholic cemetery.

Povilas Jakubenas of the Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Church agreed to perform funeral services and Juozas Purickis was buried in the Evangelical Cemetery in Kaunas.