Petras Jakštas was born on 28 October 1899 in Stramili, Rokiškis district. After graduating from elementary school, he attended the St. Petersburg Gymnasium, founded at St. Catherine’s Church in 1914-1918. Returning to his homeland, he joined the Lithuanian Military School, later served in the 7th Infantry Regiment of the Prince Butegeidis of Samogitia in Klaipėda, and from 1927 onwards in the Press and Education Department of the General Staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. In 1927-1932 he studied at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Lithuania (from 1930 Vytautas Magnus University). In 1938, he returned to the Lithuanian Army Headquarters and was appointed an officer of the Press and Education Department, receiving the rank of major.
In addition to his service in the Lithuanian Armed Forces, Petras Jakštas was also involved in social and cultural activities. In the 1930s, together with other like-minded bibliophiles, he founded the XXVII Society of Book Amateurs, which researched the history of the book, published and popularised exemplary, artistic publications. He also wrote publications for the periodical press, edited the weekly magazine “Karys”, collected and preserved books for his personal library, and wrote about 20 works on local history and book studies. He was actively engaged in local history activities, led excursions, and devoted much attention to researching the history of Lithuania Minor.
During the Second World War he worked at the Institute of the Lithuanian Language of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences in Vilnius. From 1945 he lived illegally in Lithuania and Latvia. In 1955, he became legal and settled in Šilutė, where his family had already settled.
Information prepared by Karolina Jociūtė, Curator of Museum Activities of the Lithuanian Museum of Education
