was admitted to Jelgava Gymnasium. In 1901 he was expelled for storing illegal Lithuanian press and belonging to yet another Lithuanian book smuggling society, Kūdikis. A secret police search at his home produced a large amount of illegal Lithuanian literature. Mickevičius was indicted in a political case for anti-tsarist activities. To avoid arrest, he escaped via East Prussia to Switzerland. Social democrat and imprisonment From 1901 to 1903, Mickevičius studied philosophy, sociology and political economy at University of Bern in Switzerland. Around the same time (1902–1903) he became a co-editor of Varpas and the editor of Ūkininkas in Tilsit. During his stay in Tilsit, Mickevičius gained access to the Printing House archives and published historic materials from the Auszra days and materials pertaining to the founding of Varpas. In 1902, the Varpininkai Congress founded the Lithuanian Democratic Party (LDP). Mickevičius became one of its first members. By 1903, Mickevičius felt that the LDP did not go far enough in its political goals. The LDP sought autonomy within Russia as opposed to full independence. They also did not adequately address social issues. In 1903 he left the LDP and joined the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP). Mickevičius was not willing to sever his ties with the Varpininkai, however, and clashed with LSDP leadership (Augustinas Janulaitis), who did not want to cooperate with the Varpininkai. To bridge the gap between the LSDP and the Varpininkai he founded the social-patriotic organization Draugas in 1904, although he still technically remained a member of the LSDP. After prolonged negotiations, in 1905 Draugas merged with the LSDP and Mickevičius was elected a member of the Central Committee of the LSDP. He at that time belonged to the federalist wing of the LSDP, which promoted the idea of an independent Lithuania in a federation with Poland, Belarus, Ukraine and Latvia (former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth). Russia was not part of their designs. The federalists fought with the autonomist wing of the LSDP, who promoted Lithuanian autonomy within Russia. Around the same time (1904–1906), Mickevičius founded and edited magazines Draugas and Darbininkas. From 1906 to 1907 he also contributed to and edited Naujoji Gadynė and Skardas. During the Revolution of 1905, Mickevičius organized anti-tsarist peasant demonstrations and strikes in Suvalkija and northern Lithuania. Mickevičius was briefly detained by authorities but, with no evidence against him, he managed to talk his way out. In December 1905, he was