Jonas Kruopas

Jonas Kruopas (1908–1975) was born in Sakalinė, Tauragė District, into a family of farmers. In 1937, he graduated from Vytautas Magnus University with a degree in Lithuanian Language and Literature. Kruopas taught at the pedagogical institutes in Klaipėda and Vilnius. In 1941, he applied for a position as a Lithuanian language lecturer at the Faculty of Humanities of Vilnius University. By Order D/No. 201 of 1942, Kruopas was officially employed as a lecturer at the Lithuanian Language Department. In 1945, he was appointed Vice-Dean of the Faculty of History and Philology; in 1950, by Order No. 412, the Rector appointed him Head of the Lithuanian Language Department of the Faculty of History and Philology. A document (explanatory note), “Statement on Anti-soviet Remarks During the German Occupation”, submitted in 1950, has been preserved in Kruopas’ employee file. In this document, Kruopas explains that during the National Socialist occupation, when he was working at Vilnius Pedagogical Institute, he was obliged to inform the students of the current situation in the country. His speech included the following statements: “/.../ the Red Army has been defeated, that our country has been liberated from the Bolsheviks, that the war is not yet over, and that we must unite and follow the path of Lithuania.’ In the same document, Kruopas apologised and expressed regret for these remarks. That year, it was decided to “thoroughly scrutinise” the lecturer for his deceitful behaviour. By the Order issued on 28 February 1951, the Rector dismissed Kruopas as Head of the Department as well as Associate Professor. On 23 June 1951, Kruopas submitted a request for resignation on the grounds that he could not balance work at the university with his duties at another institution. A publication commemorating the linguist’s 100th birth anniversary notes that he was dismissed from the university for political reasons. Kruopas continued his career at the Institute of Lithuanian Language of the Academy of Sciences (in 1952, it was merged with the Institute of Lithuanian Language and Literature), where he worked from 1946.

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