Maironis ir „Maironiai“, „Maironiškiai“

O. KažuKausKaitė. Maironis and Maironiai, Maironiškiai 113 ONA KAŽUKAUSKAITĖ Lietuvių kalbos institutas MaiRONis iR MAIRONIAI, MAIRONIŠKIAI KEY WORDS: place name, nickname, personal name. This year we are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of our nation’s singing priest Jonas Mačiulis-Maironis (1862–1932). the pseudonym Maironis, established in people’s consciousness1, is still not fully elucidated. Two versions are now supported. The previous one, raised by the literary scholar Vanda Zaborskaitė: “The pseudonym is related to the village of Maironiškiai, where his uncle lived, as well as Mačiulis. In addition, near the poet’s hometown there was the village of Maironiai” (Zaborskaitė 1968: 94). In the second edition of the monograph Maironis, V. Zaborskaitė added a note to the quote – information provided to her by the journalist and writer Valentinas Gustainis (1896–1971): “Rather, as a curiosity, Maironis’s consonant in XVi a. Italy should be mentioned: Preclarissima... scripta... Francisci de Mayronis [...]” (Zaborskaitė 1987: 83). Thirty years ago, Bernardo Brazdžionis (1907–2002) quite convincingly discussed a person with the surname Maironis: Mayronis, who lived in the 13th–14th centuries, was born around 1280 in the Mayrones area of France, a doctor of theology and philosophy, who wrote a multitude of theological and philosophical treatises, “will have left an indelible impression on the creative theology student J. Mačiulis both with his personality and with his name” (Brazdžionis 1992: 99). Specialists in pseudonyms explain that real names used as pseudonyms by other persons “are not random, but are chosen based on certain ideological and aesthetic motives and play an important function in the creator’s self-expression (Mačiulis 2008: 63). Lithuanian nicknames 1 In 2008, in Girdiškis, Šilalė district, the researcher Dr. Vita ivanauskaitė-Šebutienė asked the elders of the area to tell her about Juozapas Čerkeliauskas (1857–1926), the author of religious writings, who served as parish priest in the parish for more than two decades and built a large church in a small church village, and who signed himself with the pseudonym Mainionis: “An interesting detail: the consonance of two pseudonyms – Mainionis and Maironis – and the universal popularity of the latter led to the fact that J. Čerkeliauskas became Maironis in popular memory... (It is written in Šidlavas: Čerkeliauskis, Girdiškes church builder, Mairuonis)” (ivanauskaitė-Šebutienė 2010: 119). 114 KaLBOs KuLtūRa | 85 names summary says: “The most popular and famous Lithuanian nicknames are based on the names of Lithuanian regions (žEMaitė, auKŠtaitė), localities, most often native (MaiRONis, LiNKuVis, KLaiPėDiŠKis) [...]” (Mačiulis 2004: xlvii). Having in mind that both interpretations of the origin of the pseudonym Maironis are possible, J. Mačiulis has added a comment in the latest dictionary of pseudonyms: „Note. The opinion of the famous Lithuanian literature historian Vanda Zaborskaitė (1922–2011) about Maironis’ pseudonym is universally accepted. origin. Although the scholar calls B. Brazdžionis’ opinion2 curious, it is permissible to assume that her and the poet’s interpretations, a possible thing, complement each other” (Mačiulis 2011: 307). This article is not about the origin of the name. Attention is focused on the place name Mairóniai „village in Kelmė district“, which has to be edited in the General Lithuanian Language Dictionary (Bž). It seems that the (basic?) word Mairónis itself becomes clearer along the way. In the dictionary of place names (Vž) three villages with the name Mairóniai are mentioned: in addition to the mentioned village in Kelmė district, there are also such villages in Joniškis and Zarasai districts (Vž 2002). The latter two are not included in Bz, apparently chosen as being more important, associated with Maironis. When searching for illustrations of the word Mairóniai in the nearest available online Wikipedia, the following information turned out to be significant: “after the manor was parcelled out around 1927, a village began to develop, until 1933 the village was called Saudininkais (renamed in honor of the poet Maironis, who died in 1932)”. I wanted to record the sentence with a whisper. However, the Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia, which only mentions Mairónius of Kelmė district, does not indicate any connection with the poet’s pseudonym (VLE 2008: 49–50). so what is the case with the village of Maironiai mentioned by V. Zaborskaitė, – is the ancient village and the present one the same? In 1923, during Maironis’s lifetime, the first general census of the Lithuanian population was carried out. Based on the data, the Lithuanian Register of Place Names (LaV 1925) was prepared and published in 1925. It was surprising that the villages of Maironiai (or Maironiškiai) were not registered. It would seem unbelievable that the native area of the living and already legendary poet would have been bypassed by the writers. 2 This remark has to be made because in the monograph V. Zaborskaite mentions not B. Brazdžionis but V. Gustainis, who showed her information about a 15th century Italian named Maironis. B. Brazdžionis speaks probably about the same Italian-born Mayronis, who lived in the 13th–14th centuries, the well-known medieval philosopher Franciscus de Mayronis, referred to by Anton Vaičiulaitis in his article “Maironis in encyclopedias and lexicons”, published in the fourth issue of Aidai in 1983 (Vaičiulaitis 1990: 255–258). O. KažuKausKaitė. Maironis and Maironiai, Maironiškiai 115 “[In 1922], while Maironis was still alive, Kaunas street in the city centre was named after him. streets in Garliava and Raudondvaris are also named after Maironis.” (Famous people of Kaunas: commemoration. Maironis. Electronic guide). Until we have published the entire Lithuanian place-name dictionary, we look for the relevant information in the Names Funds3 accumulated at the Lithuanian Language Institute. A leaflet of the alphabetical cartography of place names collected from the living language (VGK), dated 1935, states: „Maironiai k. Kelmės v. Raseinių a. Kaimas gavo vardą nuo poeto Maironio.“ On the other side it says: "Mayorians. The village of Maironiai was formed after the Great War, when there was Juozapavos manor and the village of Saudininkai, when the Land Reform Act was being parcelled out.” The abbreviation ank. is marked, indicating that the answer was given according to a specially prepared questionnaire for the place names survey carried out in 1935–1937 (Vanagas 2008: XV). the second village Maironiai name in the local rajono Pociūnų apylinkėje esantis kaimas: „po burž. žemės reformos“, pervadintas iš buvusio Jakiškių dvaro. tik šio rajono Maironiai pateko į 1959 names of the living language of the cartographer J. Verbušaitis in 1978 as Joniškis year administrative-territorial division of the Lithuanian SSR (LatP 1959). A single village, named in the form Maironys, is known in Zarasai county in the 1935 local name registration form. Villages named Mairóniai in Joniškis, Kelmė, Zarasai districts are recorded in the Lithuanian SSR administrative-territorial division guide (Lats 1972: 59, 111, 364). Thus, according to population surveys, the Mairóni name was given to the villages during the implementation of the land reform law, after the re-administration of former manors. The data of the register of historical place names collected from printed sources and manuscripts (iVK) confirm the testimonies of the inhabitants. The name of the village is not an old historical name. In the issue 254 of the Government Gazette of 22 June 1927, it is reported: “The Land Reform Board, acting in accordance with § 701 of the Land Reform Act (former Gazette No. 200, line 1351), announces the changes in the names of the parcelled manors to villages approved by the Ministers of Agriculture and the Interior.” (1927, pp. 254). In this issue (p. 5) the village of Maironiai is mentioned, which was given this name instead of the Gaidiškiai manor, which was in Ežerėnai4 district in the imbrado village. same 3 I thank Dalia sviderskiene, the employee of the Names Department of the Lithuanian Language Institute, for helping me to search the place names databases. 4 The city was called Ežerėnai in 1919–1929 instead of Novoaleksandrovsk, renamed by Tsar’s decree in 1836 from the former historical name Zarasai (Vanagas 1996: 259–297). 116 KaLBOs Kultūra | Government News of July 5, 1927, No. 255, on the same basis, informs that Juozapavos manor, the Saudininkų palivarkas and the Saudininkų village with the plot Barsukinė are renamed the village of Maironiai (Vyr. žin. 1927: 255, 5). On 22 November 1927, on the basis of the Land Reform Act, the plot No. 57 of Rautenzija Manor in Ežerėnai County, Paupinės Valsčius was assigned to the village of Maironiai (Vyr. žin. 1927: 262, 6). After all the listed names, the changes were signed by the land reform board governor Jakubas Stanišauskas. The brief informational reports do not explain why the villages in the present Kelmė and Zarasai districts were named Maironiai. In search of Maironiškiai, the area of Maironiškis was discovered. It can be easily identified by the iVK reference to Vyriausybės Žinios No. 292 of 18 February 1929, which lists the changes in the names of the parcelled manors: the old name of the manor Šakiai palivarkas in Lapių valsčius of Kaunas county is changed to the new one – Maironiškio palivarkas (Vyr. žin. 1929: 292, 27). About Maironis wrote Juozas tumas-Vaižgantas (1869–1933). In an article published shortly after Maironis’s death, he recounted how Maironis, as rector of Kaunas seminary, took care to provide pupils with “all cultural amenities” in the seminary’s palivark in Šakiai, five kilometres from the Neris. In 1929–1931, the old buildings were demolished and rebuilt, and in the new buildings there were dormitories, a library on two floors, and a meeting hall. “If [the pupils] knew under what conditions we studied there, they would talk to their former rector Maironis every day for a. a. savings. Now it has been equalized by the name of the palivark of Šakiai – Maironiškis.” (tumas-Vaižgantas 1933: 239)5. Aldona Ruseckaitė, director of the Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum in Kaunas, a connoisseur of the poet’s life and work, shares her impressions and discoveries: “While working in archives, searching through documents, I came across the name “Maironiškis”. I had found it in Vaižgantas’ memories, but nothing specific – I couldn’t understand where it might have been, I couldn’t grasp the end of the thread. and here in the Lithuanian State Historical Archives I found a whole string of documents, from which it is clear that in the autumn of 1928 land reforms are being carried out. 5 By the way, the first person to collect place names from the living language and prepare instructions for their writing was Juozas tumas-Vaižgantas (Vanagas 2008: Xiii). The Lithuanian authorities honored Vaižgantas: Juozapavos manor in Ežerėnai district, Kompačizna manor in Šiauliai district were named Važgantų villages (Vyriausybės Žinios, June 22, 1927, No. 254); There is no evidence to suggest that this is a historical place. O. KažuKausKaitė. 117 Board Resolution No. 3960: "To name the palivark of Šakiai in Lapių parish of Kaunas County the palivark of "Maironiškis"". In reality, it was not easy to find it. No official information. but one Saturday, turning around Kaunas, losing all the way to the side, I finally managed to get into „Maironis“. [...] in the Maironiškis space, in the huge courtyard, perhaps we should organize some action this year, so that the locals also learn the information. The postman said that the buildings belonged to the Priests’ Seminary, but that she had never heard of “Maironiškis”… After all, everything is so close – next to the guards.” (Russian 2012). The residents of Kaunas still use Maironiškių street in the former Maironiškių microdistrict, now Šilainiai. There are remains of a cemetery. The answer to the question of names is again found in the local name database: „Mairóniškių village, located in the western part of Kaunas suburbs. The village was formed in 1926-27 when the land of the Linuva manor was distributed to the farmers. The name is given in honour of the poet Maironis.” Maironiškiai is registered in only one directory (LatP 1959: 157): the village belonged to the Kaunas district Zaliedžių district eight kilometers from the district center Romainiai. Later, the administrative dependence of the locality – from the village to the micro-district – changed. but the question arises, was Maironiškiai village near the poet's hometown? We find the record in Kazimieras Būga’s Nomina propria – a catalog of real names, in a leaflet written not by the scholar himself: „Mairóniškiai sd. Grades. a. urb. a. V.” abbreviation sd. means gardens, Betyg. – No matter, the others are still unsolved. The village of Betygala is in the same area as Maironis: eight kilometres from Betygala is Pasandravys (Kviklys 1958: 556). Maironis’ “parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were residents of the Betygala district” (Zaborskaitė 1987: 7). Maironis used to visit there. There is no evidence of a settlement nearby that could have been named Mairóniškiai. A little further away, about thirty kilometers away, in the Pajieslis area of Kėdainiai district, there are the villages of Meiróniškiai and Meironiškliai. These two local names have not been found in Maironis' biographies. It cannot be ruled out that Mairóniškiai in the Book of Bogus is a verbal variant of the historical toponym Meiróniškiai, again sounding related to the great poet's pseudonym... Researchers of the Names Department will professionally explain the etymology of Mairóniai, Mairóniškiai villages in the Lithuanian Place Names Dictionary. When looking at the available material, it seems that these villages were named in honour of Maironis. the fact that the 1927 government decree of Raseinių county 118 Languages and Culture | 85 Kelmės valsčiaus saudininkų bažnytkaimis pradėtas vadinti Maironiais, neprieštarauja ir V. Zaborskaitės žiniai apie netoliese, už keliolikos kilometrų, Maironis’s birthplace – the Pasandravio manor. This improvised research contradicts the prevailing version of Maironis’s pseudonym derived from a place name: the priest and poet Jonas Mačiulis, even in his first year of studies at the Petrapilis Spiritual Academy in 1888–1890, chose to call himself Maironis, inspired by the medieval doctor of theology and philosophy Maironis and his works. In 1891 he signed Maironis under the poem "Ne teip senovės žmonės gyveno" (Brazdžionis 1992: 99). In those years, Mairóniai, Mairóniškiai simply did not exist in Lithuania. ŠaLtiNiai VGK: Vietovardžių, užrašytų iš gyvosios kalbos, kartoteka. saugoma Lietuvių kalbos instituto Vardyno skyriuje. iVK: Vietovardžių, užrašytų iš istorijos šaltinių, kartoteka. saugoma Lietuvių kalbos instituto Vardyno skyriuje. Kazimiero Būgos kartoteka Nomina propria. saugoma Lietuvių kalbos instituto Vardyno skyriuje. LaV 1925: Lietuvos apgyventos vietos, Kaunas. LatP 1959: Lietuvos TSR administracinis-teritorinis padalinimas, Vilnius. Lats 1972: Lietuvos TSR administracinio teritorinio suskirstymo žinynas 1, Vilnius. Vyr. žin. 1927: Vyriausybės žinios, Nr. 254, 255, 262, Kaunas. Vyr. žin. 1929: Vyriausybės žinios, Nr. 292, Kaunas. LitERatūRa Brazdžionis B. 1992: Nuo Zvalionio iki Maironio. – Kultūros barai 9/10. [Perspausdinta iš Aidai, 1982, 5.] ivanauskaitė-Šeibutienė V. 2010: Ąžuolai Girdiškės bažnyčioje, arba netradiciniai altoriai tradiciniuose žemaičių pasakojimuose. – Ąžuolas folklore ir kultūroje, Vilnius: Vilniaus pedagoginio universiteto leidykla. Kviklys B. 1968: Mūsų Lietuva 4, Bostonas: Lietuvių enciklopedijos leidykla. Mačiulis J. 2004: Lietuviškieji slapyvardžiai, jų ypatybės ir egzistavimo priežastys. – Lietuviškieji slapyvardžiai: lietuviškos spaudos iki 1990 m. slapyvardžių sąvadas 1, 2. sudarė ir parengė J. Mačiulis. Vilnius: Lietuvos nacionalinė Martyno Mažvydo biblioteka. O. KažuKausKaitė. Maironis ir Maironiai, Maironiškiai 119 Mačiulis J. 2008: Lietuviškieji slapyvardžiai, jų ypatybės ir egzistavimo priežastys. – Apie lietuviškuosius slapyvardžius, Vilnius: Lietuvos nacionalinė Martyno Mažvydo biblioteka. Mačiulis J. 2011: Lietuviškųjų slapyvardžių aiškinamasis žodynas, Vilnius: Lietuvos nacionalinė Martyno Mažvydo biblioteka. Ruseckaitė a. 2012: antrasis laiškas – ko, ašarėle, ko tu per skruostą... – Nemunas, 22–23. tumas-Vaižgantas J. 1933: Maironis – statytojas. – Vaižganto raštai 19, Kaunas. Vaičiulaitis a. 1990: Maironis enciklopedijose ir leksikonuose. – Literatūra ir kalba 21, Vilnius: Vaga. [Perspausdinta iš Aidai, 1983, 4.] Vanagas a. 1996: Lietuvos miestų vardai. Parengė V. Maciejauskienė. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas. Vanagas a. 2008: Įvadas. – Lietuvos vietovardžių žodynas 1: a–B, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos instituto leidykla. VLE 2008: Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija 14, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas. Vž 2002: Vietovardžių žodynas. Parengė a. Pupkis, M. Razmukaitė, R. Miliūnaitė. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas. Prieiga per internetą: <http://vietovardziai.lki.lt>. Zaborskaitė V. 1968: Maironis, Vilnius: Vaga. Zaborskaitė V. 1987: Maironis. antras leidimas, Vilnius: Vaga. Žymūs Kauno žmonės: atminimo įamžinimas. Maironis. Elektroninis žinynas. Prieiga per internetą: <http://atminimas.kvb.lt>. Gauta 2012 11 06 MaiRONis aND MAIRONIAI, MAIRONIŠKIAI Summary the data from the card files of the Onomastics department at the institute of the Lithuanian language shows that the place names Maironiai, Maironiškiai and Mairo niškis are not old Lithuanian names. in 1927 place names Maironiai and Mairo niškiai were given to villages in present-day regions of Joniškis, Kelmė and Zarasai when implementing the Land Reform Law (žemės reformos įstatymas) parcelling out the land of big estates. Šakių palivarkas (Šakiai folwark) in Lapės rural district in Kaunas county which belonged to Kaunas seminary was renamed as Maironiškio palivarkas (Maironiškis folwark) in 1928 in honour of Maironis who at that time was a rector of the seminary. as can be seen from the question- 120 KaLBOs KuLtūRa | 85 naires of place name registration dating from 1935–1937, respondents recall that new place names were created in honour of the poet Maironis. there is a parallel with another case in 1927 when the Lithuanian authorities took a decision to give the name Važgantai to two villages in honour of the Lithuanian writer Juozas tumas-Vaižgantas, who was not related to these places. the analysis of place names shows that the priest and poet Jonas Mačiulis, who signed his poem „Ne teip senovės žmonės gyveno“ (published in 1891) as Mairo nis for the first time could not have create his pseudonym on the basis of the Lithuanian place name as some researchers suggest. the most probable explanation could be Bernardas Brazdžionis version that the young poet had the idea to use the surname of the philosopher from the Middle ages Franciscus de Mayronis as his pseudonym when he studied his works in saint Petersburg imperial Roman Catholic theological academy during his first years of studies in 1888–1890. KEYWORDS: toponym, pseudonym, personal name. ONa KažuKausKaitė Lietuvių kalbos institutas P. Vileišio g. 5, Lt-10308 Vilnius [email protected]