Mikalonis Juozas (1928-2017) was born in Klepočiai village, in the family of Vladas and Domicela Mikalonis. He graduated from Klepočiai Primary School and in 1946 – from Merkinė Gymnasium. In the autumn of the same year, he applied to study at the Department of Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius University. Later, he switched to studying pharmacy. He studied there until May 1949, when he was removed from the student list by an order of the Rector. In 1948, Juozas’ family was deported to the Krasnoyarsk Oblast, and his elder brother Petras was a partisan (“joined the bandits”). Juozas applied for a certificate of completion to continue his studies that autumn. In 1953, Vilnius University issued the requested document certifying his studies at the institution.