{{Short description|Lithuanian ophthalmologist and politician (1875–1939)}} {{Infobox person | name = Petras Avižonis | image = Petras Avižonis.jpg | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | pronunciation = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1875|04|17|df=yes}} | birth_place = Pasvalys Kovno Governorate, Russian Empire | death_date = {{Death date and age|1939|10|17|1875|04|17|df=yes}} | death_place = Kaunas, Lithuania | other_names = | death_cause = | resting_place = Petrašiūnai Cemetery | alma_mater = Saint Petersburg University <br> Dorpat University | years_active = | organization = | known_for = | notable_works = | party = | occupation = Ophthalmologist | movement = Lithuanian National Revival | opponents = | boards = Society of Lithuanian Eye Doctors | relatives = | children = Historian {{ill|Konstantinas Avižonis|lt}} (1909–1969) <br> Doctor {{ill|Vytautas Avižonis|lt}} (1906–2000) | spouse = Sofija Gruzdytė (1872–1963) | awards = Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (1932)<ref name=gaiga/> }}
'''Petras Avižonis''' (17 April 1875 – 17 October 1939) was a Lithuanian ophthalmologist, rector of the University of Lithuania (1925–1926) and a political figure.
Avižonis studied biology at the Saint Petersburg University but transferred to the Dorpat University to study medicine in 1897. As a student, he was active participant in the Lithuanian National Revival, collaborating with Povilas Višinskis, Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė, Julija Žymantienė (Žemaitė). In 1897, he wrote a small Lithuanian grammar. In summer 1900, he worked with linguist Jonas Jablonskis to write a more substantial grammar, which became highly influential in creating the standard Lithuanian language. Avižonis served as an army doctor with the Imperial Russian Army in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. He became interested in ophthalmology and completed his PhD in 1914. He particularly focused on treating and preventing trachoma. In independent Lithuania, he taught ophthalmology from 1920 to his death, organized ophthalmology section at the University of Lithuania, opened and headed a modern eye clinic, organized professional societies for doctors. Avižonis contributed to numerous Lithuanian periodicals, published separate brochures on medical and societal topics, and authored over one hundred academic articles. He attended international conferences and was elected to the board of the International Organization Against Trachoma in 1938. His main work, the 844-page guide to eye diseases, was unsurpassed for over fifty years.
==Biography== ===Early life and education=== Avižonis was born on {{OldStyleDate|17 April|1875|5 April}} in Pasvalys.<ref name=gaiga/> His family owned about {{convert|16|ha}} of land and had eight children (three sons and five daughters).<ref name=kazla/> His parents, active book smugglers who helped Jurgis Bielinis hide the books,<ref name=jonas/> wanted him to become a priest and sent him to a private four-year German school in Mitau (present-day Jelgava) in 1884.<ref name=gaiga/> After the graduation, he refused to attend a priest seminary and instead continued his education at the Mitau Gymnasium which was attended by many other Lithuanian students, later prominent figures in Lithuanian politics and culture. These students organized an illegal student organization, which Avižonis reorganized into the Infant Society in 1890. The society promoted the Lithuanian national consciousness and helped distribute banned Lithuanian books.<ref name=gaiga/> Upon graduation in 1894, Avižonis worked as a tutor for a year to save up money for university studies. He also received financial aid from Žiburėlis society. He chose biology at the Saint Petersburg University. Due to strict Russification policies, as a Lithuanian and non-Eastern Orthodox, Avižonis could only work in Lithuania if he became a priest, a doctor, or an attorney. Therefore, he transferred to the Dorpat University to study medicine in 1897 and graduated in 1900.<ref name=gaiga/>
In Saint Petersburg, he became active among Lithuanian students, began contributing to Lithuanian periodicals ''Varpas'' and ''Ūkininkas'', and helped Povilas Višinskis edit the first works of writer Julija Žymantienė (Žemaitė). In 1898, he published his first booklet, a popular explanation of some basic topics in earth science. In June 1898, Avižonis, Višinkis, Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė, Jadvyga Juškytė and her sister Marija visited Vincas Kudirka, the publisher of ''Varpas'' living in Naumiestis in Suvalkija.<ref name=sprin/> They also visited Tadeusz Dowgird, archaeologist and artist, Petras Kriaučiūnas, teacher and book smuggler,{{sfn|Sprindis|1978|pp=165–166}} and Kazimieras Jaunius, priest and linguist.{{sfn|Sprindis|1978|pp=169–170}} In August 1899, Avižonis helped organizing the first Lithuanian-language theater performance, comedy ''America in the Bathhouse'' (''Amerika pirtyje''), in Palanga. After the performance, Liudas Vaineikis took Višinskis and Avižonis to Tilsit in East Prussia, the major publishing center of the illegal Lithuanian press.{{sfn|Sprindis|1978|p=192}} On their way back, they visited Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas in Kuliai and Sofija Pšibiliauskienė near Tryškiai.{{sfn|Sprindis|1978|pp=193–194}}
He continued to correspond with linguist Jonas Jablonskis, former teacher at Mitau, and with his encouragement wrote a small Lithuanian grammar based on the German-language writings of Friedrich Kurschat and on works by Kazimieras Jaunius.<ref name=briau2017/> It was the first work that used the Lithuanian alphabet as it is used today.<ref name=briau2017/> When the book could not be printed, Antanas Smetona and {{ill|Vladas Sirutavičius|lt}} made about 100 copies using a mimeograph in 1898.<ref name=merke/> This grammar was insufficient for Lithuanian needs and in summer 1900 Jablonskis and Avižonis wrote a more substantial grammar, which became highly influential in creating the standard Lithuanian language. It was published in 1901 under the pen name Petras Kriaušaitis (Petras is Avižonis' first name and Kriaušaitis is Jablonskis' pen name).<ref name=eidin/>
===In Russian Empire=== Upon graduation, he worked as a doctor in Ariogala. At the time, he did not specialize and treated all kinds of ailments.<ref name=gaiga/> In 1901, he married Sofija Gruzdytė, who studied midwifery and massage in Dorpat, contributed to Lithuanian press, and published a translation of Tolstoy's ''The Restoration of Hell'' in 1908.<ref name=sofija/> She was sister-in-law of Vladas Putvinskis.<ref name=gaiga/> In October 1902, he participated in a meeting of ''Varpas'' publishers and contributors in Dabikinė Manor. The meeting was organized by Povilas Višinskis and attended by Jonas Biliūnas, Kazys Grinius, Jurgis Šaulys, Jonas Vileišis, Antanas Smetona, and others. They discussed political ideas and established the Lithuanian Democratic Party.{{sfn|Sprindis|1978|p=232}} In 1903, the couple moved to Žagarė where he organized a cooperative, a charitable society, and a shelter for the poor.<ref name=gaiga/> In 1904, Avižonis assisted Jonas Jablonskis in preparing for publication the second volume of the Polish–Lithuanian dictionary, compiled by Antanas Juška.<ref name=vle/> During the Russo-Japanese War, he was drafted to serve as doctor in the Imperial Russian Army and was taken captive by the Japanese. In 1910, he moved to Šiauliai.<ref name=gaiga/>
Avižonis became interested in ophthalmology after taking part in an expedition of Russian ophthalmologists to Zarasai.<ref name=gaiga/> He continued his medical education specializing in ophthalmology by attending courses on anthropometry by Fedir Vovk, taking classes at the {{ill|Saint Petersburg Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education|ru|Санкт-Петербургская медицинская академия последипломного образования|lt=Imperial Clinical Institute of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna}}, and practicing at the eye clinics of professors {{ill|Vladimir Dolganov (ophthalmologist)|ru|Долганов, Владимир Николаевич (офтальмолог)|lt=Vladimir Dolganov}} and {{ill|Alexander Lutkevich|ru|Люткевич, Александр Григорьевич}}.<ref name=gaiga/> He defended his PhD thesis on eye ailments in Gruzdžiai and Lygumai area at the Dorpat University in 1914.<ref name=petras/> His thesis concluded that blindness in some 60% of cases resulted from trachoma and dedicated his efforts in eradicating the infectious disease.<ref name=gaiga/>
At the same time, Avižonis continued to be active in Lithuanian cultural life. During the Russian Revolution of 1905, his political views shifted towards social democracy.<ref name=gaiga/> Using more than 50 pen names, he contributed numerous articles, often on medical topics, to Lithuanian press, including democratic ''Vilniaus žinios'' (1905–1909), ''Lietuvos ūkininkas'' (1905–1909), ''Lietuvos žinios'', and social democratic ''Darbininkų balsas'' (1902), ''Naujoji Gadynė'' (1906), ''Skardas'' (1907), and others.<ref name=petras/> He also published several booklets: ''Socialists and Masons'' (1906), ''Alcoholism Our Curse'' (1907), ''Workers and Society'' (1908), ''Earth and Human'' (1910). Some of the medical articles, published in ''Sveikata'' supplement of ''Lietuvos ūkininkas'', were republished as separate brochures.<ref name=petras/> He was a member of the Lithuanian Scientific Society and contributed to its journal ''Lietuvių tauta''.<ref name=cepen/> He participated in the cultural Varpas Society in Šiauliai. The society organized music and theater performances, lectures, Lithuanian evenings, etc.<ref name=gaiga/>
At the outbreak of World War I, Avižonis was again drafted to serve as doctor in the Imperial Russian Army. From December 1914 to June 1916, he worked as a senior doctor in a Red Cross sanitary train and a medical platoon. He then became director of the ophthalmology section of the Central Prison Hospital attached to the Butyrka prison and doctor at the Red Cross Hospital in Moscow.<ref name=gaiga/> After the February Revolution in 1917, he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks).<ref name=zinkus/> He attended the Lithuanian Petrograd Seimas in June 1917.<ref name=griga/>
===In independent Lithuania=== In June 1918, Avižonis returned to Lithuania taking up residence in Šiauliai. As a member of the Lithuanian Communist Party,<ref name=zinkus/> he was invited by Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas to become Commissar of Health in the short-lived Lithuanian–Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1919. Kapsukas also delegated Avižonis to purchase textbooks for the planned university in Vilnius. This episode almost led to his arrest in 1920 when he was accused of being a Bolshevik collaborator.<ref name=gaiga/>
In independent Lithuania, Avižonis focused his efforts on medicine and departed from politics.<ref name=gaiga/> He moved to Kaunas and organized the Medical Society of Kaunas in May 1919.<ref name=vle/><ref name=laban/> This and other local medical societies organized the Union of Lithuanian Doctors in 1923. Its statute was drafted by Avižonis.<ref name=laban/> From 1920, Avižonis lectured at the Higher Courses, the predecessor of the University of Lithuania established in 1922. At the new university, he was the dean of the Faculty of Medicine (1923–1924), university prorector (1924–1925), and rector (1925–1926).<ref name=vle/> He continued to teach ophthalmology and history of medicine until his death in 1939.<ref name=gaiga/> In 1930, he established an eye clinic and organized the construction of a modern building. It was a 50-bed hospital that in 1930–1938 treated almost 5,000 inpatients and 217,000 outpatients.<ref name=petra/> The clinic was merged with the Red Cross Hospital in September 1939, just a month prior to his death.<ref name=gaiga/>
Avižonis was a member of the German (from 1923) and French (from 1930) Societies of Ophthalmology. He attended international conferences and was elected to the board of the International Organization Against Trachoma in 1938.<ref name=petras/> In 1932, he founded the Society of Lithuanian Eye Doctors and chaired it until 1939. He published 134 academic articles on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of various eye diseases in Lithuanian (95 articles in ''Medicina''),<ref name=briau2017/> Latvian, German, French,<ref name=gaiga/> contributed articles to the ''Lithuanian Encyclopedia'', edited medical journals ''Medicina'' (Lithuanian), ''Archiv Oftalmologii'' (Russian), ''Ophthalmologica'' (German).<ref name=petras/> His main work – the 844-page guide to eye diseases – was published posthumously in 1940. It remained the only comprehensive Lithuanian-language guide to eye diseases for over half a century.<ref name=briau2005/> When writing in Lithuanian, Avižonis had to translate or create numerous medical terms – about 250 in total,<ref name=briau2005/> including some fundamental terms like ''tinklainė'' (retina), ''akiduobė'' (orbit), ''lęšiukas'' (lens).<ref name=lignu/> He was interested in linguistics and assisted Kazimieras Būga and Juozas Balčikonis in their efforts of compiling the Academic Dictionary of Lithuanian.<ref name=lignu/>
Avižonis died on 17 October 1939. His funeral was a large public event, attended by many dignitaries.<ref name=gaiga/> His body was cremated and his ashes stored in a copper urn made by Petras Rimša. Due to World War II, the urn remained unburied until November 1984. The ashes were buried with a public ceremony in the Petrašiūnai Cemetery.<ref name=kazla/>
==References== {{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=jonas>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Avižonis, Jonas |encyclopedia=Lietuvių enciklopedija |editor-first= Vaclovas |editor-last=Biržiška |display-editors=etal |year=1953 |page=503 |url=http://lituapedija.net/Puslapis:LE01.djvu/503 |publisher=Lietuvių enciklopedijos leidykla |volume=I |language=lt |oclc=14547758}}</ref>
<ref name=petras>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Avižonis Petras |encyclopedia=Lietuvių enciklopedija |editor-first= Vaclovas |editor-last=Biržiška |display-editors=etal |year=1953 |page=504 |url=http://lituapedija.net/Puslapis:LE01.djvu/504 |publisher=Lietuvių enciklopedijos leidykla |volume=I |language=lt |oclc=14547758}}</ref>
<ref name=sofija>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Avižonienė-Gruzdytė Sofija |encyclopedia=Lietuvių enciklopedija |editor-first= Vaclovas |editor-last=Biržiška |display-editors=etal |year=1953 |page=503 |url=http://lituapedija.net/Puslapis:LE01.djvu/503 |publisher=Lietuvių enciklopedijos leidykla |volume=I |language=lt |oclc=14547758}}</ref>
<ref name=briau2017>{{cite journal |first=Birutė |last=Briaukienė |title=Oftalmologas Petras Avižonis ir jo lietuviški medicinos terminai |date=2017-05-23 |url=http://www.emedicina.lt/lt/lietuvos_oftalmologija/lietuvos_oftalmologija_2017/1/v-3.html |journal=Lietuvos oftalmologija |volume=1 |language=lt |issn=1648-5289}}</ref>
<ref name=briau2005>{{cite journal |first=Birutė |last=Briaukienė |url=http://medicina.lsmuni.lt/med/0507/0507-11l.pdf |title=Pirmajam lietuviškam "Akių ligų vadovui" – 65 metai |journal=Medicina |year=2005 |volume=41 |issue=7 |pages=621–623 |language=lt |issn=1010-660X}}</ref>
<ref name=cepen>{{cite book | last=Čepėnas |first=Pranas |title=Naujųjų laikų Lietuvos istorija |volume=I | year=1977 |publisher=Dr. Kazio Griniaus Fondas |location=Chicago |oclc= 3220435 |page=470}}</ref>
<ref name=eidin>{{cite book| first=Alfonsas |last=Eidintas |year=2015 | title=Antanas Smetona and His Lithuania: From the National Liberation Movement to an Authoritarian Regime (1893-1940) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PaGXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 |translator=Alfred Erich Senn |publisher=Brill Rodopi |series=On the Boundary of Two Worlds |isbn=9789004302037 |page=19}}</ref>
<ref name=gaiga>{{cite journal |first=Aldona |last=Gaigalaitė |url=http://www.ziemgala.lt/saugykla/pdf/05__Gaigalaite.pdf |title=Petras Avižonis |issn=1648-7230 |journal=Žiemgala |year=1998 |issue=1 |language=lt }}</ref>
<ref name=griga>{{cite journal |last=Grigaravičius |first=Algirdas |url=http://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/fedora/objects/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2013~1396873952349/datastreams/DS.002.0.01.ARTIC/content |title=Politinė lietuvių veikla Rusijoje 1917 metais |language=lt |journal=Darbai ir dienos |year=2013 |volume=60 |issn=1392-0588 |page=63|doi=10.7220/2335-8769.60.2 |s2cid=158762379 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
<ref name=kazla>{{cite book |first=Albinas |last=Kazlauskas |date=2008-11-13 |chapter-url=http://www.spaudos.lt/Knygnesiu_paminklai/knygnesiai/petras_avizonis2.html |chapter=Profesorius, medicinos daktaras Petras Avižonis (1875–1939) |title=Paminklai Lietuvos knygnešiams ir daraktoriams |isbn=978-9955-800-95-8 |language=lt |access-date=27 April 2018 |archive-date=2018-08-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803182015/http://www.spaudos.lt/Knygnesiu_paminklai/knygnesiai/petras_avizonis2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name=laban>{{cite journal |first=Liutauras |last=Labanauskas |title=Tauta laukia ir mūsų, medikų, tvirto žodžio bei darbų |url=http://medicina.lsmuni.lt/med/0411/0411-0le.htm |journal=Medicina |year=2004 |volume=40 |issue=11 |language=lt |issn=1010-660X |page=1029}}</ref>
<ref name=lignu>{{cite journal | first1=Asta |last1=Lignugarienė |first2= Rolandas |last2=Minevičius | url=http://www.museums.lt/Biblioteka/Lignugariene.htm |title=Prof. P. Avižonio ir gyd. J. Staugaičio rinkiniai Lietuvos medicinos ir farmacijos istorijos muziejuje |journal=Lietuvos muziejų rinkiniai |year=2004 |volume=4 |language=lt |issn=1822-0657 }}</ref>
<ref name=merke>{{cite book |first=Aleksandras |last=Merkelis |title=Antanas Smetona: jo visuomeninė, kultūrinė ir politinė veikla |year=1964 |location=New York |publisher=Amerikos lietuvių tautinės sąjunga |oclc=494741879 |language=lt |page=44}}</ref>
<ref name=petra>{{cite journal| first1=Asta |last1=Lignugarienė |first2=Jadvyga |last2=Petrauskienė |first3=Snieguolė |last3=Kaselienė |title=Lietuvos universiteto (Vytauto Didžiojo universiteto) Medicinos fakulteto Akių klinikos veikla 1922–1938 metais |url=https://publications.lsmuni.lt/object/elaba:6195825/6195825.pdf |journal=Medicina |year=2007 |volume=43 |issue=10 |language=lt |issn=1010-660X |pages=758, 761–762}}</ref>
<ref name=sprin>{{cite book |first=Adolfas |last=Sprindis |title=Povilas Višinskis |language=lt |year=1978 |publisher=Vaga |location=Vilnius |oclc=4874806 |pages=160, 162 }}</ref>
<ref name=vle>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.vle.lt/Straipsnis/avizonis-67444 |title=Avižonis, Petras |encyclopedia=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |publisher=Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras |date=2002-08-14 |language=lt |access-date=27 April 2018}}</ref>
<ref name=zinkus>{{cite encyclopedia | editor-first=Jonas |editor-last=Zinkus | encyclopedia=Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedija | title=Avižonis, Petras | year=1985–1988 | publisher=Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija | volume=I | location=Vilnius |oclc=20017802 | page=153 |language=lt|display-editors=etal}}</ref>
}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Avizonis, Petras}} Category:1875 births Category:1939 deaths Category:People from Pasvalys District Municipality Category:People from Ponevezhsky Uyezd Category:Communist Party of Lithuania politicians Category:Lithuanian–Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic people Category:Medical doctors from the Russian Empire Category:Lithuanian ophthalmologists Category:Saint Petersburg State University alumni Category:University of Tartu alumni Category:Rectors of Vytautas Magnus University Category:Recipients of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Category:Burials at Petrašiūnai Cemetery