Jonas Yčas (21 July 1880 – 17 December 1931) was a Lithuanian educator and university professor. He served as the first minister of education of Lithuania from 11 November 1918 to 12 April 1919.
Yčas graduated from the which prepared teachers for Russian schools. He then worked as a teacher at the (1903–1908), gymnasium inspector in Semipalatinsk (1908–1916), and gymnasium principal in Voronezh (1916–1918). Despite the long distance, Yčas remained involved in Lithuanian cultural life. He attended annual synods of the Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Church and was elected its curator in 1910; he joined the Lithuanian Scientific Society and published articles in its journal ; he was the chairman of the educational section of the Lithuanian Society for the Relief of War Sufferers and organized the Lithuanian teachers' courses.
Yčas returned to Lithuania mid-1918. He became the minister of education in the first cabinet of prime minister Augustinas Voldemaras in November 1918 and continued to serve in the next two cabinets until April 1919. Yčas had to organize the ministry, recruit its personnel, evacuate the ministry to Kaunas at the start of the Lithuanian–Soviet War, and transition schools from the German Ober Ost administration. In 1920, he earned his doctorate degree from the University of Königsberg. He then worked as the principal of three gymnasiums in Panevėžys (Boys', Girls', and Russian) and as the curator of education in the Klaipėda Region (a position with the Directorate of the Klaipėda Region). He resigned in 1927, devoting his time to teaching history at Vytautas Magnus University, a position he held since 1922. Despite his life-long interest in history, he had little time to devote to research. His monograph on the history of the and the Radziwiłł family was published shortly after his death in December 1931.
Biography 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 banned Lithuanian-language publications 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 his studies. He was saved due to an 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.