Vincas Mickevičius (Polish spelling: Mickiewicz), known under his pen name Kapsukas ( – 17 February 1935), was a Lithuanian communist political activist, publicist and revolutionary. As an active member of the Lithuanian National Revival, he wrote for and edited many Lithuanian publications and joined the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party. As his views turned from socialism to communism, he became one of the founders and leaders of the Lithuanian Communist Party and headed the short-lived Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic and Lithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Litbel) in 1918–1919. After the fall of these republics, Mickevičius left for Soviet Russia, where he continued to lead the Lithuanian communists and worked for the Communist International (Comintern). Biography Early life and education Mickevičius was born in 1880 in the village of Wyłkowyszki, Wyłkowyszki district, to a Lithuanian family of wealthy farmers. Suvalkija was then part of Congress Poland, a client state of the Russian Empire. Following the January Uprising of 1863, the tsarist government imposed the Lithuanian press ban which outlawed materials printed in the Lithuanian language. Vincas's father Simonas and elder brother Juozas were Lithuanian patriots. His uncle Antanas Mickevičius was daraktorius, a founder of and a teacher at underground Lithuanian schools. Vincas Mickevičius was early exposed to old illegal issues of Auszra monthly magazine hidden at their home. Around 1888–1892 he was tutored at home and attended a Lithuanian school run by his uncle. From 1892 to 1897, Mickevičius studied at Marijampolė Gymnasium. In 1895, he became an active participant in the Lithuanian National Revival when his brother Juozas introduced him to the secret book smuggling society Sietynas, a group that printed Lithuanian books and periodicals in East Prussia, smuggled them and disseminated in Lithuania. After graduating from the Gymnasium in 1897, Mickevičius enrolled at the Sejny Priest Seminary, but was expelled after a year for his illegal political activities. He was a member of the secret Lithuanian Clerical Society and participated in the dissemination of illegal Lithuanian press. Around 1898–1899, Mickevičius tutored at Sakalai, a Lithuanian school run by Povilas Višinskis. Since 1888, he was active Varpininkas – a member of the patriotic organization, named after Varpas newspaper, aimed at raising Lithuanian consciousness, promoting education, Lithuanian language and culture. Mickevičius was contributing to Varpas and Ūkininkas. Mickevičius chose his pen name Kapsukas, a diminutive version of Vincas Kapsas, one of the pen names of Vincas Kudirka, founder of Varpas. In 1900, Mickevičius