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Biography

Lithuanian priest, one of the leaders of the 1863 Uprising.
Born in a family of lowland nobility. He walked to Vilnius and studied at the Vilnius Gymnasium, then walked to Kiev from 1846 to 1849 and studied at St. He studied at the University of St. Vladimir. Influenced by the 1848 Revolution in Europe, he began to think about how to liberate Lithuania from the Russian yoke and to alleviate the hard work of the peasants. Seeing that Lithuanian peasants were extremely pious and trusted priests, he decided to become a priest. After graduating from the University of Kiev, he entered the Varniai Seminary in 1850. After graduating from the seminary, he served as vicar in Krekenava from 1853 to 1855 and in Paberžė from 1856 to 1862. In 1862, he met the future leaders of the uprising, Z. Sierakauskas and K. Kalinauskas, in Vilnius.

In the spring of 1863, an uprising against the oppression of Tsarist Russia began in Lithuania (according to the Tsarist court, he was the first to raise the flag of the uprising in Lithuania). Mackevičius was the first to express the idea of an independent Lithuania. On 20 March. He read out a rebel manifesto in the church of Paberžė on the 20th of May, which called on the population to rebel in order to restore national statehood, to recognise the people's civil rights, and to provide free land. He then hurried to the parsonage, where he threw off his cassock, put on a short fur coat, tightened his belt and holstered his pistol.

A. Mackevičius assembled a squad of about 250 armed men and took command of it. Nearly 145,000 Tsarist soldiers, armed with hunting rifles and scythes, put down 8-15 thousand rebels. On 26 November 1863, the last battle of Mackiewicz's rebel detachment took place near Vilkija, in the village of Lebedžiai. On 17 December, the priest was arrested and taken to Kaunas Prison (now Maironis House). After refusing to betray the leaders of the rebellion, Mikhail Muravyov's decree sentenced the rebel leader to death by hanging. The sentence was carried out in Kaunas, Ožeškienės Street. On 28 December 1863, a shrine was erected in the churchyard of Paberžės Church. The Paberžės Museum of the Uprising of 1863 houses a memorial exhibition on the priest's childhood, years of education and work, and the struggles of his rebel group. The exhibits include personal belongings, furniture, documents, a pre-death letter, a manuscript, etc.

    19 September 1998. A memorial stone and a chapel pillar (by folk artist Ipolitas Užkurnys) unveiled in Ringove (Kaunas district).
    23 September 1998
    Memorial stone at Krekenava.
    Stone with a memorial plaque announcing the place of death of A. Mackevičius near the Evangelical Reformed Church of Kaunas.
    Stone with a memorial plaque announcing the place of death of A. Mackevičius.

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