Naujųjų donelaitikos šaltinių apžvalga
A Review of New Sources in Donelaitis Studies

Summary/Abstract: Recent advances in Kristijonas Donelaitis (1714–1780) studies have substantially enriched the biographical and documentary record of Donelaitis’s life and work, bringing to light a remarkable volume of previously unknown archival materials from repositories in Germany and the United States of America. These newly identified sources – ranging from administrative correspondence and parish registers to autograph manuscripts – significantly expand our understanding of Donelaitis’s social environment, professional activity, and private life. Among the most revealing findings are official reports from Stalupėnai (Ger. Stallupönen) describing him as frail and in poor health, contrasted with his own later notes that depict him as vigorous, industrious, and remarkably resilient, suggesting a strategic rather than factual use of illness rhetoric. Equally important are discoveries concerning his wife, Anna Regina: parish registers confirm that before marrying Donelaitis she had been the wife of the Stalupėnai school rector Gottlieb Jacob Gehrich, with whom she had a daughter for whom Donelaitis himself served as godfather – an entirely new biographical insight. Furthermore, the rediscovery of three complete photographic copies of the long-lost Tolminkiemis (Ger. Tollmingkehmen) baptismal register (1725–1754), preserved in Leipzig and Salt Lake City, represents a major addition to Donelaitis scholarship, reproducing over 1300 baptismal entries and numerous marginal notes in his own hand. Newly published archival materials also illuminate Donelaitis’s practical and artistic activities, including documents on collaboration with the renowned organ builder Adam Gottlob Casparini, several German-language autographs concerning church repairs and liturgical objects, and records linking his brother, the Königsberg goldsmith Friedrich Donelaitis, to the making of a new communion chalice for the Tolminkiemis church. Together, these discoveries offer a richer and more nuanced portrait of Donelaitis as both pastor and cultural figure within the Prussian Lithuanian milieu of the 18th century.

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