Čiurlionis

Lithuania’s greatest artist and composer was a Polish-speaking man by the name of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. Born in the nearby town of Varėna, Čiurlionis (1875-1911) spent his childhood in Druskininkai and the town remains the spiritual home of the much loved man. An immensely prolific artist, Čiurlionis wrote extensively for the piano, composed string quartets, and also penned the country’s first symphony, Miške (In The Forest). His musical style shifted between the pastoral and romantic to occasional dabblings in serialism. A busy painter too, Čiurlionis was one of the primary organisers of the country’s first exhibition of Lithuanian art in Vilnius in 1907. He served as a conductor, was deeply involved in the Lithuanian independence movement, married the writer Sofija Kymantaitė, dabbled in photography and even found time to design stained glass. Such a hectic life for a man renowned for his profound shyness was bound to take its toll. Repeating attacks of depression saw him finally retiring to a nursing home near Warsaw where he died of pneumonia at just 35. Čiurlionis left one daughter, whom although almost a year old when he died, he never saw. Several of his descendents still live in Druskininkai.