Vytautas Alantas  Vytautas Alantas (born Vytautas Benjaminas Jakševičius, 18 June 1902 – 24 April 1990) was a Lithuanian writer, journalist, and political ideologue. Educated in France, Alantas worked as a journalist of the Lithuanian news agency ELTA and chief editor of the official daily "Lietuvos aidas". Alantas was one of the leaders of Young Tautininkai, an organization of radical young members of the Lithuanian Nationalist Union in the late 1930s – this movement is also known as "Vairininkai" after the political magazine "Vairas". A sympathizer with national socialism, Alantas is considered to be one of the chief ideologues of totalitarian nationalism in interwar Lithuania. During the Nazi occupation of Lithuania, he participated in the Lithuanian Activist Front (LAF) and later emigrated to the United States where he dedicated his life to literary work. He was a prolific writer and published seven collections of short stories, six novels, fifteen plays, four non-fiction books, and one poetry collection. His writings primarily deal with patriotic themes and topics. Alantas was the eldest of four children of a family of Lithuanian farmers in Sidabravas. Alantas' father briefly worked in the United States and managed to purchase of land from a former manor in near Radviliškis. His brother became a theater director. Alantas was taught by a "daraktorius", a travelling Lithuanian teacher educating pupils in secret during the Lithuanian press ban. In 1912–1923, Alantas studied at the Šiauliai Gymnasium, with a half-year break in 1919 when he volunteered for the Lithuanian Army to fight the West Russian Volunteer Army in the Lithuanian Wars of Independence, despite being only 17 years old. From sixth grade onward, Alantas became immersed in literature, writing poetry and participating in the activities of the Ateitis Catholic Youth organization. Like many Lithuanian writers, he published his literature under a pseudonym, choosing "Alantas", a tributary of the river Minija. In 1923, he enrolled to study literature in the University of Lithuania, but quit a year later due to lack of funds, and worked as a teacher at a gymnasium in Plungė until 1926. He continued his studies at the University of Montpellier in France and graduated in 1929.