Vilnius to install commemorative plaques for political prisoner Dirsytė and Act of March 11 signatory Pečeliūnas

Vilnius City Municipality Council has approved the installation of commemorative plaques for political prisoner Adelė Dirsytė and March 11 Act signatory Saulius Pečeliūnas, LRT reports.

A plaque for Pečeliūnas will be placed on the building at Gedimino Avenue 34, stating: “In this house from 1958 to 1990 lived Saulius Pečeliūnas (1956–2023), signatory of the March 11 Act. On February 5, 1989, the Lithuanian Democratic Party was restored here.” Pečeliūnas, a long-serving member of the Seimas, passed away in 2023 after a serious illness. Inspired by his uncle, resistance participant Povilas Pečeliūnas, he fought for Lithuania’s freedom, collaborated on the publication of the Lithuanian Catholic Church Chronicle, and was actively involved in the Lithuanian Reform Movement (Sąjūdis). He was a member of the Sąjūdis Seimas from 1988 to 1990, a founder and long-time chairman of the Lithuanian Democratic Party, and served four terms in the Seimas. He was awarded the Medal of Lithuanian Independence and the Order of the Grand Duke Gediminas.

The plaque for Dirsytė will be installed on the building at Šv. Ignoto Street 5, with the inscription: “Adelė Dirsytė (1909–1955), a member of the Ateitininkai Catholic youth organisation, teacher, political prisoner and martyr, worked at the active Vilnius II Girls’ Gymnasium from 1944 to 1946.” Born in 1909 in Pramislavas, Kėdainiai District, Dirsytė worked for the Lithuanian Catholic Women’s Association from 1932, cared for orphans and the poor, participated in Ateitininkai activities, and contributed to the magazines Moteris and Naujoji vaidilutė. She graduated from the Theology-Philosophy Faculty of Vytautas Magnus University in 1940 and worked as a teacher at Vilnius Girls’ Gymnasium. In 1946, she was arrested for anti-Soviet activities and sentenced to ten years in prison by a military tribunal. From 1947, she was imprisoned in Komi and later in Siberia. In Magadan’s labour camp, she wrote prayers, known as the Siberian Exile Prayer Book, which have been translated into about 12 languages. In 1999, Dirsytė was posthumously awarded the Order of the Cross of Vytis, 4th class, and in 2000, her beatification process began.