author
Peter Saurusaitis
A Lithuanian-born priest, editor, and language advocate, he wrote from firsthand experience about returning to his homeland after decades away. His books capture both immigrant life and a deep effort to keep the Lithuanian language alive.
1 Audiobook
Thirty Days in Lithuania in 1919
by Peter Saurusaitis
About the author
Born in 1854, Petras Saurusaitis was a Lithuanian Catholic priest, publisher, and editor. Lithuanian reference sources describe him as a churchman who also worked in the world of print, and note that he left for the United States in 1884.
In America, he published practical language books for Lithuanian readers, including An abridged dictionary of the English-Lithuanian languages in 1899 and A brief Lithuanian grammar in 1910. Those works suggest a writer focused on helping immigrants and learners move between languages while staying connected to their roots.
He is also remembered for Thirty Days in Lithuania in 1919, a travel memoir and eyewitness account of his return to Lithuania after many years abroad. In that book, issued under the name Peter Saurusaitis, he reflects on war-torn Lithuania, national identity, and the perspective of someone looking back at a homeland changed by history.