Simonas Stanevičius

Simonas Stanevičius (October 26, 1799 in Kanopėnai near Viduklė – March 10, 1848 in Stemplės near Švėkšna) was a Lithuanian writer and an activist of the "Samogitian Revival", an early stage of the Lithuanian National Revival.

Born to a family of petty nobles, Stanevičius studied at the Jesuit gymnasium in Kražiai from 1817 to 1821. For a year he worked in Kražiai as a private teacher, before enrolling into the Art and Literature Department of Vilnius University. There he was influenced by democratic ideas of professors such as Joachim Lelewel and Ignacy Onacewicz. Stanevičius joined a cultural movement to promote the Lithuanian language. After graduation in 1826, he stayed in Vilnius, working as a private tutor and preparing his works for publication. In 1829, he published three of his works (a grammar book, collection of folk songs, and his fables). Stanevičius then moved to Raseiniai and lived in the Plater estate, managing their private library. During the Uprising of 1830, Stanevičius traveled to Königsberg where he met with Ludwig Rhesa and collected materials for future publications. After death of his patron Jerzy Plater in 1836, Stanevičius moved to the estate of Jerzy's brother Kazimierz Plater in Stemplės. There Stanevičius continued to care for the 3,000-piece library until his death of tuberculosis in 1848.

In 1829, inspired by Johann Gottfried Herder, Stanevičius published Dainos žemaičių (Songs of the Samogitians), a sample of 30 most artistic and valuable Samogitian folk songs from his 150-song collection. Four years later he published an addendum (Pažymės žemaitiškos gaidos) with melodies for these songs.

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