Family Yčas was born on 21 July 1880 in near
Biržai to a family of Lithuanian farmers that were members of the
Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Church. Yčas was the oldest of four siblings. According to a family tradition, they were descendants of Scottish Protestant refugees. Before the
abolition of serfdom in 1861, the family were serfs of the
Astravas Manor owned by the
Tyszkiewicz family. However, the family was relatively wealthy and owned a windmill and two houses in Biržai. They owned about 33
desiatinas of land. Yčas' father helped
book smugglers to distribute the
banned Lithuanian-language press and was imprisoned for three months. Fearing further arrests, he emigrated to the United States in 1890 and worked in the gold mines in
Lead, South Dakota. He died there in 1913. The father did not support his family and it struggled financially. Nevertheless, Yčas and his younger brother
Martynas, with the help of their uncle
Stanislovas Dagilis and their Evangelical Reformed Church, managed to obtain higher education.
Education Yčas received primary education at home and at an illegal Lithuanian village school (such schools were popular due to the
Lithuanian press ban). In 1890, Yčas enrolled at the
Mitau Gymnasium where he was looked after by
Povilas Jakubėnas. However, his father's emigration to the United States and his mother's illness almost forced him to abandon the studies. He was saved due to the intervention by his uncle
Stanislovas Dagilis, a local priest, and his community which raised funds for his education. He was a good student and lived with a local German family, which was controlling and limited Yčas' contacts with his own family. To escape the situation, in fall 1894, Yčas transferred to the to , an old Evangelical Reformed school, but Tsarist authorities took control of the school in 1881. Yčas graduated from the gymnasium with a silver medal in 1898. He applied to which was previously attended by his uncle Dagilis. However, he was late to submit paperwork and had to skip a year. He then applied to the Law Faculty of
Saint Petersburg University, but did not attend it due to lack of funds. Therefore, Yčas studied at the institute from 1899 to 1903. The school focused on humanities, particularly the
classical antiquity, and prepared teachers for Russian schools. The institute provided tuition and board for free, but its graduates had to work as teachers for at least six years. Yčas was interested in history and wrote his thesis on the formation of cities in Lithuania. In 1900, Yčas took his younger brother Martynas to Saint Petersburg to prepare him for gymnasium entrance exams.
Teacher in Tomsk Yčas graduated in 1903 and was offered to stay at the institute to continue studies and become a professor, but refused and chose a teaching position at .
Tomsk had a university, which was important for Yčas' academic interests, and living conditions were better in
Siberia (salaries were higher, bureaucracy was more liberal, discrimination based on nationality or social status was less). Yčas started his new position in July 1903 and taught there until October 1908. In addition, Yčas organized a private gymnasium, which was more liberal than the government gymnasium, in fall 1904 and was its principal until fall 1906. He also briefly taught Russian language and history at the newly established and history at higher courses for women. Yčas joined city's public life, was a member of various societies, and delivered public lectures. He was a member of the central committee of the local chapter of the
Constitutional Democratic Party. He supported the
Russian Revolution of 1905. On , the monarchist
Black Hundreds burned down the and railway administration building with protesters inside. According to his brother, Yčas participated in the protest, but left early. Tsarist police was interested in Yčas, but , the
governor of Tomsk, was a member of the Evangelical Reformed Church and that was enough to get Yčas out of trouble. When Nolken was reassigned to the
Mogilev Governorate in September 1908, the Tsarist police resumed its investigation of Yčas. Therefore, in October 1908, Yčas moved to Semipalatinsk (
Semey in present-day
Kazakhstan) to work as a gymnasium inspector.
Gymnasium inspector in Semipalatinsk Yčas' position in Semipalatinsk was supposed to be temporary, but he stayed there until December 1916. He was inspector of the boys' gymnasium and also taught history, psychology, Latin, and logic. On a few occasions, he was also acting principal. One of his students was the future writer
Mukhtar Auezov who left warm recollections about Yčas and remained fond of Lithuania. As civil servant, Yčas was awarded the
Order of Saint Stanislaus (3rd class in 1909) and the
Order of Saint Anna (3rd class in 1913). In 1916, Yčas was promoted to
State Councillor according to the
Table of Ranks. Yčas joined the Semipalatinsk branch of the
Imperial Russian Geographical Society and was its deputy chairman from February 1911 to February 1913. Despite the long distance (travel back to Lithuania took up to 12 days), Yčas was active in Lithuanian cultural life. In 1905, he published an article about Lithuanians in Siberia in
Lietuvių laikraštis, the first Lithuanian periodical in Russia after the
Lithuanian press ban was lifted. In August 1906, he participated in a Lithuanian cultural evening in Biržai. In 1907, he joined the
Lithuanian Scientific Society and attended its annual meetings. He also attended meetings of the Evangelical Reformed Church in Vilnius. In 1910, he travelled to
Kraków to gather information about the
Battle of Grunwald (that year was the 500th anniversary of the battle). He published his study in '''' and as a separate booklet in 1914. He was also a member of the
Lithuanian Art Society. In 1912, he became one of the co-founders of the . It was initiated by his brother Martynas.
Principal in Voronezh In August 1915, Lithuanian students evacuated to
Voronezh where Martynas Yčas organized two
Lithuanian gymnasiums and other schools maintained by the
Lithuanian Society for the Relief of War Sufferers. He invited Jonas Yčas to became principal of the boys' gymnasium. He refused because it would take him too long to relocate while the needs in Voronezh were urgent. Instead, minister of education
Paul Ignatieff offered him principal's position at the 2nd Boys' Gymnasium in Voronezh. Yčas departed from Semipalatinsk in December 1916. He quickly joined Lithuanian cultural life in Voronezh and became the chairman of the education section of the
Lithuanian Society for the Relief of War Sufferers. The education section organized Lithuanian teachers' courses that grew into an institute. Yčas was the institute's director. The institute had 50 students who completed an accelerated course from October 1917 to April 1918. The course focused on the Lithuanian language which was taught by linguists
Jonas Jablonskis and
Juozas Balčikonis. The education section also worked on publishing various Lithuanian textbooks. It had plans for about 60 books, but managed to publish only a few works by , ,
Jonas Jablonskis, and
Sofija Kymantaitė-Čiurlionienė. After the
October Revolution, Lithuanians faced persecution by the new Bolshevik regime. Several members of the
Supreme Lithuanian Council in Russia, including
Mykolas Sleževičius, Martynas Yčas, , , ,
Adomas Varnas,
Eliziejus Draugelis, and several students were arrested. According to his brother and daughter, Jonas Yčas freed them by taking 13,000 rubles from the 2nd Boys' Gymnasium and bribing police officials.
Minister of education After the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Lithuanian refugees began returning home. In June 1918, Lithuanian teachers and students in Voronezh hired a special train to transport them to
Vilnius. The journey took 16 days. Yčas was invited to join education commission of the
Council of Lithuania which discussed issues of Lithuanian schools and possibilities of reestablishing
Vilnius University. He joined the
Party of National Progress. When Lithuanians organized their
first cabinet of ministers on 11 November 1918, Yčas became the minister of education. Officially, Yčas held the title of director or due to disagreements between Lithuanian political parties as to who should become the minister. Yčas recruited a number of prominent Lithuanians, including
Mykolas Biržiška, ,
Pranas Mašiotas,
Jonas Jablonskis,
Jokūbas Šernas,
Antanas Žmuidzinavičius,
Tadas Ivanauskas,
Jonas Vabalas-Gudaitis, ,
Jonas Basanavičius,
Liudas Gira,
Balys Sruoga,
Juozas Tallat-Kelpša,
Vladas Nagevičius,
Vytautas Pranas Bičiūnas,
Paulius Galaunė. The ministry worked to organize its departments, establish contacts with Lithuanian schools to ensure their transition from the German
Ober Ost to Lithuanian administration, and convene a teachers' conference. The ministry approved a number of new schools as well as took over the
Lithuanian Rytas Gymnasium for boys and started organizing a gymnasium for girls in Vilnius. It also drafted plans for reestablishing
Vilnius University and had scheduled its official opening for 1 January 1919. However, the work was interrupted by the outbreak of the
Lithuanian–Soviet War. The Lithuanian government evacuated from Vilnius to
Kaunas on 3 January 1919. Prime Minister
Augustinas Voldemaras left for Germany causing a government crisis.
Mykolas Sleževičius stepped up and formed a new cabinet on 26 December 1918.
Mykolas Biržiška became the new minister of education, but he remained in Vilnius. Therefore, Yčas continued to lead the ministry. When
Sleževičius Cabinet I resigned on 7 March 1919, reportedly, Yčas was offered the prime minister post but refused. He became the minister of education in the
Dovydaitis Cabinet but this cabinet lasted only a month until 12 April 1919. Yčas was replaced by
Juozas Tūbelis. In Kaunas, the ministry had to effectively start anew and recruit new employees and activists as many people remained in Vilnius. The primary goal of the ministry was to implement universal primary education, which necessitated establishment of numerous new schools and at least four teachers' seminaries in
Veiveriai, Panevėžys, Vilnius, and
Telšiai or
Šiauliai. At the time, it was the second largest government agency (after the
Ministry of Defence) and employed more than 2,000 people. Yčas visited Germany on 10–30 March 1919 to learn about its education system and not solely rely on the inherited Russian system. This trip, during a government crisis, was criticized by his opponents. Yčas raised the idea of inviting Finnish professor to Lithuania to advise on the primary education (it was accomplished after Yčas' departure from the ministry).
Principal in Panevėžys After his tenure at the Ministry of Education, Yčas chose to study at the
University of Königsberg. He studied medieval history for four semesters under professor
Albert Brackmann. He wrote his doctorate thesis on the 16th-century chronicler
Simon Grunau. In July 1920, he was granted two degrees – master's of liberal arts and doctorate in philosophy. Upon return to Lithuania in May 1920, he was appointed principal of both the
Panevėžys Boys' and Girls' Gymnasiums replacing
Juozas Balčikonis. Both gymnasiums shared the same premises. There were also parallel classes taught in Russian that had a gymnasium status. Yčas became a principal of this Russian gymnasium in January 1921. At the same time, Yčas taught history. From August 1920 to September 1924,
Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė was deputy principal of the girls' gymnasium. She officially resigned due to health reasons, but in private correspondence blamed Yčas for pushing her out. During his tenure, the number of students grew from 703 in 1919/20 to 1,076 in 1924/25 school year. In addition to academics, Yčas paid attention to students' cultural activities. The school organized various extracurricular activities, field trips (including one in 1921 led by Yčas to
Klaipėda which was then a
mandate of the League of Nations), exhibitions of student works (one in June 1921 was opened by bishop and attended by about 4,000 people), meetings with prominent Lithuanians (including writer
Žemaitė, activist
Jonas Basanavičius, politicians
Antanas Smetona,
Augustinas Voldemaras, and Martynas Yčas, general
Silvestras Žukauskas, professor
Mykolas Biržiška, diplomat
Jonas Aukštuolis). There were very few cultural events in the city, thus theater performances and concerts organized by the school attracted public interest. In 1921, the gymnasium adopted an optional school uniform for girls which was soon adopted nationally and was used in Lithuania until 1990s. Yčas chaired school's committee that raised funds to support Lithuanian schools in the Polish-controlled
Vilnius Region. With support from Yčas, teacher and sculptor
Juozas Zikaras sculpted the
Statue of Liberty at the gymnasium; it was erected in Kaunas in 1928. In 1920–1922, Yčas was an expert consultant to the
Constituent Assembly of Lithuania and helped draft laws on primary education and the statute of the
University of Lithuania. In 1922, in additions to his positions in Panevėžys, Yčas became a professor at the newly established University of Lithuania in Kaunas. In 1923, he was also the temporary principal of the new Panevėžys Progymnasium.
Education curator in Klaipėda In March 1925, Yčas was invited to become the curator of education in the
Klaipėda Region (a position with the
Directorate of the Klaipėda Region). In June 1925, he resigned his positions in Panevėžys and moved to
Klaipėda. Klaipėda Region was detached from
East Prussia by the
Treaty of Versailles. Lithuania gained control of the region after the
Klaipėda Revolt in January 1923, but it retained autonomy. Region's schools and teachers were heavily influenced by the German culture and sluggishly implemented Lithuanian reforms that emphasized the lessons of the Lithuanian language. Yčas worked to implement the reforms that aimed to Lithuanize the schools. However, some Lithuanian activist believed that Yčas was not firm enough and gave in to German demands. Articles criticizing Yčas' work were published in '''' (published by a local chapter of the
Lithuanian Riflemen's Union) and
Lietuvos žinios. Yčas initiated establishment of the based on the German model. The school opened in May 1925. In mid-1926, Yčas also chaired a commission that prepared Lithuanian
toponyms for several dozen of localities in the region. Yčas resigned from the directory effective 1 November 1927.
University professor in Kaunas The
University of Lithuania was formally established on 16 February 1922 (anniversary of Lithuania's independence). Yčas was among the first five professors appointed to the Faculty of Humanities by the
president of Lithuania on 22 May 1922. He became director of the section on the history of Lithuania, and continued to hold this position until his death when he was replaced by
Ignas Jonynas. Yčas continued to live in Panevėžys and later Klaipėda, forcing a lengthy commute. He primarily taught the history of Lithuania up to the death of the Grand Duke
Vytautas (1430), but also taught courses on sources on the history of Lithuania, history of
Prussia, history of the Germans and Latvians,
historiography. Though it was not his specialty, Yčas also taught medieval history until the university hired
Lev Karsavin. In his works and lectures, Yčas focused on discussing and analyzing
primary sources without rushing to conclusions. Yčas emphasized the need for a historian to remain objective and avoid bias. For example, even though he was religious, he critically evaluated the
Bible. He was able to present more objective and balanced history of the
Reformation, while many other Catholic historians treated it as
heresy. Many of his lecture notes were published as separate books by the students. In addition to lectures, Yčas worked to foster his students. In 1925, he established and headed a history seminar, which had a 1,530-book library in 1932. He also continued to maintain contacts with professors of the
University of Königsberg. In particular, he corresponded with philologist
Adalbert Bezzenberger and worked to popularize his work in the Lithuanian press. In 1924, Yčas worked to establish the Faculty of Evangelical Theology which prepared Evangelical clergy. In 1928, Yčas was awarded the
Independence Medal. In December 1929, Yčas became a member of a government commission tasked with creating the official version of the
coat of arms of Lithuania. The commission worked until 1934 and settled on a design by
Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, but it was not confirmed.
Death The Lithuanian government reduced the number of professors for the fall 1930 semester. For unknown reasons, Yčas's positions was cut in a decree signed by president
Antanas Smetona. However, after appeals by the university, he was reinstated. His family and university colleagues, including historian
Ignas Jonynas, attributed stress related to this dismissal as the cause for deterioration of Yčas health. In April 1931, Yčas traveled to Sweden to collect materials for his historical study on
Biržai. He visited
Uppsala and the
National Archives of Sweden. He brought a copy of the
Union of Kėdainiai to Lithuania. His health deteriorated in fall 1931 and he took a three-month vacation from the university to travel to Paris for treatments. He returned to Kaunas on 12 December 1931 and died five days later. His funeral procession was accompanied by the orchestra of the
Vytautas the Great War Museum. His funeral on 20 December was attended by many government officials, including prime minister
Juozas Tūbelis. He was buried in the Evangelical section of Kaunas Old Cemetery. His grave was destroyed when Soviet authorities demolished the cemetery and turned it into
Ramybė Park in 1950s, thus the exact location of his burial is unknown. ==Historical studies==