Antanas Chodakauskas

Antanas Chodakauskas (June 18, 1850 - February 4, 1925) was a Lithuanian nobleman, a landowner, a player in the Lithuanian National Revival movement and the father of Romanas Chodakauskas, Sofija Smetonienė, Tadas Chodakauskas and Jadvyga Tūbelienė.
Early life and education.
Antanas was born on June 18, 1850 to Casimir Chodakowski (1814-1905) and Maria Chodakowska (née Naramowska) (1815-1902), in Ignalina Manor (now Degučiai eldership), Zarasai region, Lithuania. He had five older siblings: two sisters (Malvina (1839-1870) - who would marry Jonas Leonas Petkevičius (1828-1909) - and Wanda (1842-1858)) and three brothers (Stefan (1843-1919), Aleksander (1845-1880) and Zbigniew (1847-1930).
His parents had moved from Vilnius, where his father had worked at the State Treasury of Vilnius, to the countryside to manage estates, fifteen years previously.
Čelkiai Manor.
By the end of 1854, the family was living in Manor, Pakruojis region.
The manor was owned by (1814-1872), adjutant for General Henryk Dembiński in the 1831 November Uprising, a member of the and a friend of the family since at least the time of Antanas' father's baptism in 1830 in Vilnius, when Franciszek was a witness. The Karp family were one of the richest noble families in Lithuania, the largest landowners in Kaunas province and owners of Joniškėlis Manor, among many other manors.
On December 8, 1854, Antanas’ brother, Franciszek (1854-1883) was born. When Antanas was eight, in 1858, his sister Wanda (1842-1858) died in the same manor house.
Antanas and his family lived in Čelkiai Manor until his siblings had finished gymnasium.
The family then moved to Smilgiai Manor (now Panevėžys district).
Žadeikiai Estate.
In 1858, Antanas’ father began renting Žadeikiai Estate. The estate was 2 km south-east of Pasvalys, in northern Lithuania, 6 km south of Antanas’ uncle Aleksander Chodakowski’s (c1815-1871) estate at Vytartų. Living at Vytartu Manor was Antanas' cousin and future wife Marija-Johana (1852-1910), daughter of Aleksander. Antanas was 8 and Marija-Johana was 6.
Antanas attended school in Pasvalys. One of his schoolmates was Petras Vileišis (1851-1926).
On October 18, 1860, Antanas’ father transferred the Žadeikiai Estate lease to his brother, Aleksander Chodakowski (c1815-1871).
When the January Uprising broke out in 1863, Antanas’ father was afraid that Antanas’ eldest brother Stefan (1843-1919) who was 19 at the time, would join the rebels. In her memoirs, Antanas' niece Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė wrote that:My grandfather Kazimieras Chodakauskas fearing that his eldest son Stefan would join the rebels in 1863, took him to the barn (while the meeting was being held) and so managed to avoid it.
Šiauliai Gymnasium.
By 1866, Antanas was studying at Šiauliai Gymnasium. Even though instruction was in Russian, the gymnasium was a hot bed of National Revival ideas and many of its students, who had started social and cultural activities in the gymnasium, later became famous Lithuanians. Antanas’ school mates included Petras Vileišis (1851-1926), who studied at Šiauliai Gymnasium between 1866 and 1870, Gabrielius Landsbergis-Žemkalnis (1852-1916) who attended between 1864 and 1870 and (1849-1902) (future owner of Plungė Manor) who graduated in 1870.
Zvanagala Estate.
In 1882, the Chodakowski family was confirmed as nobility. Antanas, 32 years old at the time, and his father Casimir (1814-1905) were leasing land at Estate, 22 km north west of Pasvalys.
The estate was owned by the Dokalski family, headed by Franciszek Ksawery Dokalski (c1815-1865), with his sons Wacław Roch Dokalski (b. 1858) and Stanisław Dokalski (b. 1858).
Antanas’ brother Stefan (1843-1919) leased Estate; his brother Zbigniew (1847-1930) was an employee of the Karp noble family; and his brother Francis (1854- 1883) served as a Lieutenant in the Saratov Infantry regiment.
Marriage and the start of a family.
Antanas married his first cousin, Marija-Johana Chodakowska (1852-1910), on June 17, 1882 in Pasvalys' St. John the Baptist Church. The witnesses of the marriage were: I. Petkewitch, Bolesław Chodakowski (Marija-Johana’s brother), Wladyslaw Petkiewitch, John Petkiewitch and John Giedroic. As they were closely related, they had to get special permission from the Pope to marry.
On August 9, 1883, Antanas and Maria had their first child, Romanas Chodakauskas (1883-1932) at Zvanagala Estate. Romanas was baptized in St. Joseph’s Church in Vaškai by Rev. Heronim Jaksztowitch the vicar of the church. Antanas’ father, Casimir, was the godfather and Marija-Johana’s sister-in-law, Stanisława Chodakowska (née Giedroyć) (1855-1933) was the godmother. Cecilija was also in attendance.
Gavėnonių Estate.
Around 1884, Antanas, his wife Marija-Johana and Antanas’ father, Casimir and mother, Maria and son Romanas, moved to Gavėnonių Estate, Pakruojis region, a few miles north-east of Pašvitinys. The estate was owned by the descendants of Felicician Karp (1821-1880), the owner of Joniškėlis manor.
Gavėnonių Estate was deserted at the time but through diligence and skill, Antanas changed it beyond recognition. (1879-1960), a lawyer from Steigvilių, visited Gavėnonių and wrote about it in his  memoirs "‘Memories of Youth’". Antanas, he noted, was growing lush crops of clover, where before there was marshland. All the land had been properly drained, with new ditches and bridges. There were animals in the barn, a workhorse, plows, harrows, drills and cutting machines. All that was needed was a threshing machine. Požela noted that though the manor house was of medium size, it was full of culture. He wrote that Antanas was not only a good farmer, was also a firm supporter of the Lithuanian National Revival Movement.
Visitors to Gavėnonių Estate included notable members of the Lithuanian National Revival Movement including: Povilas Višinskis (1875-1906), (1858-1916), (1866"-"1962) and Petras Vileišis (1851-1926).
Antanas and Marija-Johana have three more children.
On December 29, 1884, Antanas and Marija-Johana had their second child, daughter Sofija (1884-1968) in Gavėnonių. Gabrielė Petkevičaitė (1861-1943), who was 22 at the time, made the journey from Joniškėlis to Pašvitinys that February (1885) to be Sofija’s godmother. Antanas brother, Stefan Chodakowski (1843-1919) (who was living in Rimkūnai Dvaras) was her godfather.
Kazimierza was born on February 8, 1888. A year later, on February 19, 1889, Kazimierza died.
On May 4, 1889, son Tadas was born and on January 11, 1891, daughter Jadvyga, both at Gavėnonių.
Antanas and Marija-Johana raised their children to be patriotic and socially conscious. Though the family spoke Polish among themselves, they were home-schooled in the Lithuanian language and spoke Lithuanian when conversing with the farm workers. Since the Russification policies meant Lithuanian schools were banned, Lithuanian parents rarely let their children attend a tsarist primary school. Antanas and Marija-Johana hired tutors or taught the children themselves. According to historian Ingrida Jakubavičienė, Antanas and Marija-Johana were:Educated and enlightened nobles who dedicated their lives to their children, to family, to education, and to knowledge, but not to wealth.Despite being a Polish noble, Antanas considered himself wholly Lithuanian and supported the Lithuanian National Revival Movement. Antanas and Marija-Johana interacted with the Lithuanian intelligentsia and the nobility involved in the Lithuanian National Movement including linguist Jonas Jablonskis.
Friends with Jonas Jablonskis.
Antanas was introduced to Jonas Jablonskis (1860-1930) by his niece Gabrielė Petkevičaitė (1861-1943).
Jablonskis was a distinguished Lithuanian linguist who taught Greek and Latin at Jelgava Gymnasium. During summer vacations, Jablonskis collected data among native speakers in Lithuania for his linguistic studies. The Chodakauskases and Jablonskises soon became close friends and Jablonskis often spent  summers with the Chodakauskases.
Antanas Smetona tutors Romanas.
Antanas invited Lithuanian students, recommended by Jablonskis, to teach his children. In the summer of 1895, Jablonskis recommended a student of his, Antanas Smetona (1874-1944), to be the tutor for Romanas, Antanas’ son. Romanas was studying in preparation for the entrance exams to Jelgava Gymnasium and Smetona, being from a poor, farming background, needed the work.  
Smetona had recently passed his entrance examinations for the Samogitian Diocesan Seminary in Kaunas. However, he had felt no great calling for the priesthood and enrolled into the Jelgava Gymnasium instead. It was a cultural hub of the Lithuanian National Revival and attracted many future leaders in Lithuanian culture and politics, including Juozas Tūbelis (1882-1939) and Vladas Mironas (1880-1953) who later became Smetona’s political companions. In particular, Lithuanian language and culture was openly promoted by Jablonskis, with whom Smetona developed a close friendship.
In the Chodakowski household, both Smetona and Jablonskis were great promoters of the Lithuanian language and culture and the family was soon inspired by their passion.
Jadvyga once asked Jablonskis, who was visiting the Chodakauskas house, “Who am I?” Jablonskis answered, “Well, how do you feel?” Jadvyga said, “I feel Lithuanian.” “That's it!” exclaimed Jablonskis.
It was at Gavėnonių that Smetona met Antanas’ daughter, his future wife, Sofija Chodakauskaitė (1884-1968).
Antanas Smetona, taken with Sofija, promised that once she had graduated from Jelgava Girls' Gymnasium that he would return and propose. On August 14, 1904, they married at the Church of St Raphael the Archangel in Vilnius. In 1918, Smetona became the first President of Lithuania, and Sofija, Antanas’ daughter, the first First Lady of Lithuania.
In 1898, Antanas Chodakauskas and his brother Zbigniew (1847-1930) from Pavėzgių Manor, were required by the Russian government to be the heads of military cavalry units in their areas. During military marches and deployments, they were to accept Russian soldiers and their horses onto their estates.
On July 29, 1902, Antanas’ mother Maria (née Naramowska) died at Gavėnonių Estate. She was buried in Rozalimas Cemetery.
Vytartų Manor.
The Chodakowski family often spent at least part of their summers in Marija-Johana’s childhood home of Vytartų Manor.
Marija-Johana’s mother, Natalie Charlotte von der Osten-Sacken (1819-1903), a widow since 1871, was still living in Vytartų. Marija-Johana’s brother Bolesław (1850-1895) lived at Vytartų until he died in 1895, after which time Marija-Johana’s brother Jan Chodakowski (1849-1926), with his wife and children, moved to live with Natalie in Vytartų.
Vytartų was also a centre of the growing National Revival Movement. Both brothers Bolesław and Jan Chodakowski were involved. Bolesław worked closely with his niece, writer and publicist, Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė (1861-1943). Referring to Natalie Charlotte von der Osten-Sacken in her memoirs, Gabrielė wrote that her:...second Chodakauskienė grandmother, the wife of Aleksander […was] a little dissatisfied with me [because] her youngest son, my uncle, Bolesław was involved in the National [Revival] Movement. She blamed me a bit, but gently, as only she knew how. The old woman was afraid of police, searches, etc.
Children Attend School.
Three of Antanas’ children - Romanas, Sofija and Jadvyga - attended gymnasium in Jelgava. Romanas attended Jelgava Gymnasium and Sofija and Jadvyga attended Jelgava Girl’s Gymnasium. Their second son, Tadas attended St. Catherine Gymnasium in St. Petersburg.
Jadvyga first started studying at the Jelgava Girl’s Gymnasium in 1899 when she was eight years old. When Sofija and Jadvyga were studying Antanas' wife, Marija-Johana, spent a few years in a rented apartment with the girls. During that time Antanas’ son Tadas (1889-1959), also lived with them.
On August 14, 1904, Antanas’ daughter, Sofija (1884-1968) married Antanas Smetona (1874-1944) at the Church of St Raphael the Archangel in Vilnius.
Sebentiškis Estate.
On June 3, 1908, Antanas borrowed 21,600 rubles from Vilnius Land Bank to buy Estate from the Krauziu family. The estate consisted of 329.3 hectares (814 acres), including 188.31 hectares of arable land (465 acres), 120.09 ha of grassland (297 acres) and a few bodies of water. Antanas donated some of his land to the church in . He also financed the construction of Suostos Church.
Antanas’ daughter Jadvyga returned from her studies in St. Petersburg for the summer of 1910. On July 26, 1910, Antanas’ wife Marija-Johana (1852-1910) died from a heart defect at Sebentiškis Estate. She was buried in Suostos Cemetery, four km north of Sebentiškis. Jadvyga returned to St. Petersburg in the autumn, leaving Antanas and his eldest daughter Sofija to manage Sebentiškis Estate.
Kaunas.
World War I broke out on July 28, 1914 and the Eastern Front ran within a few kilometres of Sebentiškis Estate.
Antanas moved to Kaunas where he lived with his daughter, Sofija and her husband, Antanas Smetona (between the years of 1923-1927, Smetona was assistant professor at the University of Lithuania in Kaunas) in an apartment rented from Reverend Maironis (1862-1932) in Syruć (Maironis) Mansion, at Rotušės a. 13, Kaunas.
Death and Burial.
On February 4, 1925, Antanas died in Kaunas.
Three days later, on February 7, 1925, he was buried in Cemetery, beside his wife, Marija-Johana.
Because his daughter Sofija (1884-1968) had cared for Antanas in his old age, Antanas left the majority of his estate at Sebentiškis, a total of 120.38 hectares, to her. He left 39.49 hectares to his son Romanas (1883-1932).
Suosto parishioners honoured the memory of Antanas and his wife by erecting a new tombstone for him and Marija-Johana in August 2006.