Sofija Čiurlionienė-Kymantaitė (1886-1958) Lithuanian writer, public figure, literary and art critic, playwright, poet, translator, M. K. Čiurlionis' wife.

Sofija Čiurlionienė-Kymantaitė was born into a landless nobleman family and grew up with her uncle, Dean Vincentas Jarulaitis. In 1893, her parents moved with Sofija to Kuliai. She received private education in Gargždai, Šiauliai, Plungė, and Palanga. In 1899, the vicar Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas came to Kuliai, and this was a major influence on Sofija's life. Vaižgantas taught her how to read and write in Lithuanian and took her to the first public Lithuanian play in Palanga. Under his advice, Sofija's parents began to think about a better education for their daughter. Sofija later attended St. Catherine's Gymnasium in St. Petersburg. In 1904 she graduated from the gymnasium in Riga. She dreamt of studying medicine, but missed a grade in Latin. Therefore, she enrolled as a free reader in the Faculty of Philosophy at the Baranecki High School in Krakow and at the University of Krakow between 1904 and 1907. In 1907-1908 she worked in the editorial office of "Viltis" in Vilnius.

The first meeting between Sofija Kymantaitė and Čiurlionis took place in 1907 in Vilnius, at the dress rehearsal of Gabrielius Landsbergis-Zemkalnis's "Blinda" - a fateful moment for both of them. She wrote about it in her memoirs, "A big empty hall, the play on stage has already started - we sit down, watch. Bortkevičienė [a friend of Sofija's, publisher and editor of the weekly newspaper "Lietuvos ūkininkas"] whispers to me: 'Look, there, there's Čiurlionis standing by the wall'. Yes. The same one I was shown last year at the opening of the first exhibition. And suddenly, a wave washed over my heart. I knew absolutely everything. It's "Him". (Čiurlionis M.K. Letters to Soija. Compiled by V. Landsbergis. Vilnius, 1973. P. 9) And a week later Konstantinas, hearing Sofija speak excellent Lithuanian, asked her to teach it him too.

On 1 January 1909 (old calendar style), Sofija Kymantaitė married Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis in Šateikiai. After his death in 1911, she and her daughter Danutė settled in Kaunas. Until 1914 she taught Lithuanian language at the "Saulė" courses in Kaunas, and from 1915 to 1918 she taught at the Lithuanian gymnasium in Voronezh. In 1918-1919 he lived in Vilnius, and from 1919 in Kaunas. Here she worked in the education department of the Ministry of National Defence, lectured at the front, prepared chrestomatics for soldiers and for the Kaunas Military School. Later, she taught Lithuanian language and Lithuanian language teaching methodology at the Faculty of Humanities of Vytautas Magnus University.

In 1929-1937, she was a member of the Lithuanian delegation to the Commission for Social Affairs of the League of Nations in Geneva, and represented Lithuanian women at international congresses. In 1930-1936, she was the chief leader of the Lithuanian Girl Scouts.

"And do you know who Zosė is? You've probably guessed it - she's my Wife - my Fiancée - the one I've been dreaming of for so many years and searching for on my path, only to be met with faint resemblances and illusions, and disappointments and deceptions. Now my heart is so warm that I would like to embrace the whole world, to hold it, to warm and comfort it." (From a letter to Brother Povilas. Druskininkai, 7-8 September 1908. Čiurlionis M.K., Landsbergis V. Letters to Sofia. Vilnius, 2011. P. 150)

Family