Lietuviu laikrastis (The
Lithuanian Newspaper), the first Lithuanian periodical published legally in
the territory of Russia. It appeared as a weekly in St. Petersburg in
November of 1904, a few months after the ban on the Lithuanian press was
lifted. The paper was published by Antanas Smilga with the cooperation of
the Lithuanian Welfare Society of St. Petersburg and of several professors
of the Catholic Theological Academy. Its publisher was a businessman, but
the contributors were clergymen, except for three or four laymen. Professor
Eduardas Volteris (Edward Wolter), researcher of Baltic culture, was in
charge of censorship, but in fulfilling his duties he was favorably disposed
toward the publisher. Published in the capital of Russia, the newspaper was
little known in Lithuania and was out of touch with the Lithuanian people.
When the Vilniaus zinios (News of Vilnius) appeared in Vilnius in
December of 1904, the future of the St. Petersburg weekly became uncertain.
In the middle of 1905 the paper began to decline and ceased publication at
the end of 1905.
Text from the ENCYCLOPEDIA
LITUANICA I-VI. Boston, 1970-1978
