From 1904, Jonynas studied history at the
Imperial Moscow University under
Matvei Lyubavsky, an expert on the
Lithuanian Metrica—medieval archives of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Lyubavsky's critical approach to historical sources greatly influenced Jonynas. Jonynas participated in the
Russian Revolution of 1905 and thus had to transfer to the
University of Grenoble to study French language and literature. He also attended lectures on history at the
University of Berlin. Acquitted by Russian courts, he returned to Moscow to finish his studies. After graduation in 1911, he worked as a school teacher in
Noginsk and Moscow until 1919. At the end of World War I, he returned to Lithuania and joined the
People's Commissariat of Education of the
Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. After the failure of the Soviet government, he lived in
Vilnius, worked as a school principal, and opposed Polish ambitions in the city. For a few months in mid-1920, he was the chief Lithuanian commissioner in the
Vilnius Region. After the 1920
Żeligowski's Mutiny, during which Polish forces captured Vilnius, Jonynas moved to
Kaunas and joined the
control commission of the
League of Nations to negotiate the
dispute over the Vilnius Region. After the diplomatic efforts failed in 1922, Jonynas continued to be employed by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania until 1929. From 1924 until his death, he lectured at the
University of Lithuania and
Vilnius University, attaining
professorship in 1932. ==Works==