Antanas Augustinas Vaičiulaitis (June 23, 1906 – July 22, 1992) was a Lithuanian fiction writer of the 20th century, and also known for his literary criticism and translations. His most prominent work is the novel Valentina.
Biography
Antanas Vaičiulaitis was born on June 23, 1906, in Didieji Šelviai, near Vilkaviškis, in the Suvalkija region, then part of Congress Poland. He attended a primary school in Vilkaviškis, and from 1919 to 1927, he attended Žiburys High School, also in Vilkaviškis. His poetry was first published in 1925 in the journal Krivulė. In 1927, he enrolled at the University of Lithuania in Kaunas,[1] where he studied Lithuanian and French languages and literature. After finishing his studies at the university, for a short while he taught at the Kaunas Jesuit school. From 1935 to 1938, he enrolled in advanced studies of French literature at the University of Grenoble and at the Sorbonne.[1] He won the Sakalas Prize for novels in 1936.[2] Returning to Kaunas, from 1938 to 1940, he worked at the news service ELTA and taught new Lithuanian literature in the Theology and Philosophy Department at Vytautas Magnus University. He traveled frequently in Europe.