One of the most prominent Lithuanian authors in the first half of the twentieth century, Vincas Kreve-Mickevicius was an accomplished prose writer and dramatist. He possessed a wide range of social and cultural interests as well as a deep sense of patriotism for his homeland. Politically committed to an independent Lithuania, Kreve-Mickevicius was forced to flee the country shortly before the second Soviet occupation at the close of World War II; he lived in exile for the remainder of his life.

Vincas Kreve-Mickevicius was born Vincas Mickevicius on 19 October 1882 in the hamlet of Subartonys, near Merkine in southeastern Lithuania. His parents, Juozas Mickevicius and Rozalija Kinderaite Mickeviciene, were farmers, and he was raised with eight brothers and four sisters. Kreve-Mickevicius's grandfather was called not only by the surname of Mickevicius but by Kreve as well. Later, when he began his career as a writer, Kreve-Mickevicius took his grandfather's...