The house of book smuggler J.O.Širvydas in Jūžintai

The book smuggler born on April 4, 1875 in Dauliūnai village, near Jūžintai. Started shepherding  very early because poor parents didn’t even think about hiring a stranger’s child. He grazed in the summer  in the winter he was caring for his brothers and  reading everything that was at hand.

In an independent Lithuania, it was a well-known person, an active public figure. He worked particularly diligently during the years of press insurance. As a young man, he transported the Lithuanian press from East Prussia, distributed it throughout Lithuania, and published a small manuscript newspaper „Triūsas mužikėlio“. Local gendarmes repeatedly warned him to quit, but the young man was stubborn. He preferred the Panevėžys prison and later the deportation to Latvia, but did not give up on educational work.

1900 in Panemunėlis, where another famous Lithuanian educator, priest Jonas Katelė lived, he established a youth education group “Žvaigždė”. J.O. Širvydas  who at that time was called and signed under the nickname of Bevardis for conspiracy purposes, together with members of the “Žvaigždė” society organized various entertainment parties, of which the performances became the most popular. However, in 1902 the „Žvaigždė“ society was tracked down and disbanded and its leader  J. O. Širvydas was forced to emigrate to the United States. 1921 – 1928 he edited the newspaper  „Vienybė“ . After he return to Lithuania he participated in the activities of the Union of Riflemen and Nationalists. He settled in Jūžintai  and  according to himself: “I thought, I become a stump.”. Širvydas wanted to establish a bookstore and asked for donations of books. Working on the dictionary of the Lithuanian language took a lot of time. It seemed to him that a hundred years would not be enough for this job. J. O. Širvydas died in 1935. on December 27 and was buried in Jūžintai.