Jonas Paulius Lenktaitis (17 November [O.S. 4 November] 1913 – 4 February 2003) was a Lithuanian jurist, businessman, publisher, and director of the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society.
Biography
Early life and career
Lenktaitis was born on 17 November 1913 in the village of Juškakaimiai, then part of the Russian Empire (now in Lithuania). He began writing for the press in 1928. He studied economy and law at the University of Lithuania, taking a keen interest in international customs. As a student, he actively participated in the Neo-Lithuania student corporation. In 1934, together with conductor Antanas Makačinas, he established the Vincas Kudirka Symphony Orchestra. By 1935 or 1936, he became a member of the Lithuanian Union of Journalists. From 1939 to 1940, he published Kultuvas (a weekly satire newspaper) and Muzikos barai (a magazine) in Vilnius. In 1939, together with architect Vytautas Landsbergis-Žemkalnis and conductor Balys Dvarionas, he established the Vilnius City Symphony Orchestra. That same year, he founded the Patria publishing house.
World War II
In 1940, after the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, the Council of Peoples' Commissars of the Lithuanian SSR made Lenktaitis responsible for creating the administration of the Vilnius State Philharmony. After the June Uprising in 1941, Juozas Ambrazevičius, Minister of Education of the provisional Lithuanian government, ordered Lenktaitis to save the Philharmony from possible closure. In 1942, with the help of Pranas Germantas and the mayor of Vilnius, colonel Karolis Dabulevičius, the Vilnius State Philharmonic Opera was established. For refusing to recruit young Lithuanians to join the German army, Lenktaitis was arrested by the Gestapo on 15 March 1943 and sent to the Stutthof concentration camp. He was released after forty days, possibly due to his business connections.
Emigration
After his release, Lenktaitis moved to West Germany, where he re-established the Patria publishing house, which became the most productive Lithuanian émigré publisher of the time. In 1946, along with poet Bernardas Brazdžionis, he re-established the Society of Lithuanian Writers in Exile. He continued studying law at the University of Tübingen.
In 1951, Lenktaitis immigrated to the United States. He collaborated with Robert Sherman to prepare radio shows about Lithuania for a station belonging to The New York Times, broadcasting from 1972 until 1993. In 1956, he graduated from the New York School of Radio Engineering. He studied Anglo-Saxon law in Chicago, graduating in 1972 with a PhD. As a Lithuanian émigré, he was a creator and active member of a literary club named after Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas. He headed two film distribution companies he established — Intercontinental Pictures, Ltd and Amropa Pictures, Ltd — managed a printing technology corporation, and briefly acted in a film entitled Home of the Braves.
Later years
In 2002, President Valdas Adamkus awarded Lenktaitis the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, Officer's Cross. He could speak German, English, Polish, Russian, and Czech. Lenktaitis died on 4 February 2003 in Vilnius and was buried in Slavikai.
Publishing legacy
Lenktaitis's publishing house Patria published works by numerous notable Lithuanian authors, including Adolfas Šapoka, Antanas Škėma, Alfonsas Nyka-Niliūnas, Kazys Bradūnas, Vaclovas Biržiška, and Jonas Mekas, among others.
