BRAZDZIONIS, BERNARDAS

born Feb. 14, 1907, Stebeikeliai, Lithuania, Russian Empire pseudonym Vyte Nemunelis leading Lithuanian poet, editor, critic, andunder his pseudonymauthor of popular children's books. Brazdzionis studied Lithuanian language and literature at the University of Kaunas (192934) and showed originality with his third collection of verse, Amzinas zydas (1931; The Eternal Jew); his first two collections were written while he was still in high school. He taught Lithuanian, worked for a book publisher, and in 1940 was appointed director of the Maironis Museum of Literature, Kaunas. Near the end of World War II, with Soviet occupation imminent, he left Lithuania (1944) for Germany. In 1949 he moved to the United States and settled in Boston, where he worked as the editor of world literature for Lietuviu enciklopedija (Lithuanian Encyclopaedia). Six years later he became editor of the Lithuanian cultural magazine Lietuviu dienos (Lithuanian Days), published in Los Angeles. A poet of great range, Brazdzionis moves surely from romanticism to realism, from local themes to universal ones; at times he is lyrical and serene, at others dramatic and stormy. Although his style is largely traditional, his poetry departs from that mold in his use of language: word order is broken up, words and sounds repeated. At the centre of his poetry lies his faith in God and in his providence. Brazdzionis' earlier religious poetry, written in Lithuania, has biblical themes and is marked by his use of liturgical language. After Lithuania lost its independence during World War II, patriotic and humanistic themes became dominant in his poetry. Brazdzionis' verse for children is among the best and most popular in Lithuanian literature. He also edited several anthologies of Lithuanian literature.