Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė – a Heroine From the Beginning of the Twentieth Century

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We usually think of heroes as men of special merit – soldiers, politicians, revolutionaries – who used all their strength and talents fighting for good. It is a pity that the description of a heroine – a brave woman who works for the good of the nation – is still rare, but there are many such women in Lithuanian history. Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė can be called a heroine without hesitation – this public figure, writer, and teacher was one of the first fighters for women's rights and gave a lot to Lithuania. Although she was a talented prose writer, she didn’t limit herself to writing literature: she supported and taught the poor, helped other creatives, and fought for equal rights for women and men at a time when many people saw such activities as insignificant or even harmful. So this woman was a true altruist. She chose the public good over her personal well-being, believing that hard work could make the world a better place.

Petkevičaitė-Bitė was born in 1861 in Puziniškis manor in Panevėžys county. Her family were part of the nobility, so she received an excellent education. As a child, Petkevičaitė-Bitė was taught by the famous educator Laurynas Ivinskis, who instilled in her the belief that she must share what she had with others. For teachers, education was the greatest treasure. Therefore, Petkevičaitė-Bitė passed her examinations for a license as a home teacher in 1878 and started teaching the youth of the surrounding villages. She later got a job at the Panevėžys Gymnasium.

However, she considered the education of women her most important activity and Petkevičaitė-Bitė used all her talents – as a teacher, writer and public figure – for this purpose. Not many people in Lithuania talked about equal rights for women and men at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century: women still could not vote, and most women, especially in the lower classes, did not have any education. In most cases, the fate of a woman was decided by her parents as they were choosing the right husband for their daughter, and after marriage she had to obey her spouse. Poor women had to work as farmhands or maids doing the worst jobs. They would become completely dependent on employers because their employment rights were not protected by any employment contracts or laws.

Petkevičaitė-Bitė believed that the situation of women would change, if they acquired education and became more aware. She chaired the First Lithuanian Women's Congress in 1907, and published and edited the Lithuanian Farmer's Supplement for Women Žibutė (‘Viola’) in 1911–1913, where she wrote a lot about women's rights, the first feminists and their activities. Sacrifice for the welfare of others was also an important theme in Petkevičaitė-Bitė's works. For example, the novel Ad Astra tells a story of a young girl from a noble family, Elzė Kęsgailytė who refuses a quiet family life because she wants to devote all her time and energy to public education.

Like most writers of the twentieth century, Petkevičaitė-Bitė signed books and articles under a nickname, in other words – a pseudonym. She chose the pseudonym of Bitė [Eng. bee] because, in Lithuanian folklore, the bee is a small worker who, together with other bees, creates a hive full of honey. Petkevičaitė-Bitė herself took care of an apiary of 50 hives, and used the money she earned from selling honey to help poor children.