Nationality Lithuanian Known for sculptor | Name Benjaminas Jaksevicius | |
Full Name Benjaminas Jaksevicius Born 31 March 1895 ( 1895-03-31 ) Panevezys, Russian Empire Died 13 August 1979(1979-08-13) (aged 84)
Kaunas, USSR | ||
Benjaminas Jakševičius (March 31, 1895 in Panevėžys – August 13, 1979 in Kaunas) was a Lithuanian sculptor and partisan. Together with his brother Vincentas and nephews Silvanas and Adomas, he contributed to religious art by building sacred statues and altars, mainly in Kaišiadorys, Švėkšna and various other parts of Lithuania.
Biography
Jakševičius was the youngest among his brothers, born to a family of noble descent. His mother Marija Gurinaitė-Jakševičienė was of Tyzenhaus nobility.
In 1915 he worked for his oldest brother, Vincentas. At the same year he was summoned to the civil service in tsarist army. Later due to his disease he was released from it and lived in the Guberniya of Yekaterinburg. In 1918 he came back to Lithuania and lived in Švėkšna until 1922 and in Panevėžys from 1922 to 1925. Later he moved to Kavarskas and married Elžbieta Striogaitė on November 28, 1925 with whom he had four children. He continued living in Kavarskas in 1945, but at the same time traveling to Švėkšna and Panevėžys, where he worked as a sculptor and decorator.
In July 1945, he joined anti-Soviet resistance movement and was a member of "Liūtas" and "Žaibas" squads. His known pseudonyms were "Dzedunia" and "Šaltekšnis". NKVD caught him in 1947. He was found guilty and was exiled to concentration camps in remote parts of the USSR. At first, he was sentenced to death, but later his penalty was reduced to 25 years of imprisonment. In 1960s he was allowed to move to any Soviet republic, except his Lithuanian SSR, but he came back to Lithuania nevertheless.