Born Jonas Mačiulis in the small town of Šiluva, the revered Lithuanian poet Maironis (1862-1932) was also a priest and an active member of the National Revival movement whose nationalist sentiments made him unpopular with the Soviets who had to be hoodwinked into allowing this monument to go up at all. Unveiled in 1977 and the work of Gediminas Jokūbonis (1927-2006), the granite statue features no cross and the poet's arm is positioned so as to cover his clerical collar.