Litas, the former official currency of Lithuania, was in circulation twice - during the interwar period from 1922 to 1940 and from 1993 to 2014. We were used to seeing famous personalities of Lithuanian history featured on banknotes issued after 1993, there were as many as 10 of them! But how many of famous personalities were featured on litas banknotes during the interwar period?
In 1920s and 1930s, there were two issues of Lithuanian litas banknotes printed. Their designs were created by the most famous painters of the time: Adomas Varnas, Antanas Žmuidzinavičius, Adomas Galdikas and others. The most predominant features on them were folk motives, symbolic figures, scenes depicting traditional work and so on. It was also quite popular to paint the portraits of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. However, they could only partially be called portraits. We do not have even a single authentic image of any of the Dukes, therefore the portraits that were placed on banknotes were only the fruit of artist imagination. The only real portrait was printed on the 50 litas banknote of 1928, and it was the image of Dr. Jonas Basanavičius (we have already written about Jonas Basanavičius being featured on Lithuanian money).
If a 10 litas banknote featuring Antanas Smetona on its obverse and the signatories of the Act of February 16 on its reverse (article) was printed in 1938, there would have been more real portraits. Unfortunately, that did not happen. However, we have already written how real people inspired the painters and even posed for them. The woman depicted on the 100 litas banknote of 1928 is an allegorical figure of Lithuania. Elena Turauskienė, the wife of a diplomat Edvardas Turauskas, posed for this portrait (see more here). Were there more of such cases? Apparently - yes!
The 10 litas banknote of 1927 designed by the painter Antanas Žmuidzinavičius (1876-1966) is also related to one famous person of that time. The painter was probably the most famous one in interwar period Lithuania. He was the one asked to create the design of a 10 litas banknote. At the time, Lithuania was well-known for being a country of agriculture and the idea was to depict that fact on the new banknote. The painter had an idea that it would be nice to feature a real, neat Lithuanian cottage. Žmuidzinavičius’ friend Antanas Tamošaitis (1906-2005), a famous painter, textile artist and collector of the time, suggested that his cottage located in the village of Barzdai (district of Šakiai) could be a good fit and showed him a couple of its photos. Žmuidzinavičius was very intrigued by a photo of sowing and decided that this was the one to be featured on the banknote. It is interesting that this was not just a random photo, it was a photo of Tamošaitis’ brother Juozas and his helpers sowing cereal, with the cottage visible in the background.
On 24 November 1927, the General Council of the Bank of Lithuania approved Žmuidzinavičius’ design during its meeting. An agreement was signed with an English company Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. At first, the plan was to print 3 million banknotes which the English company had to bring to Lithuania. 5,250 pounds sterling were paid for this. The most important drawings were printed by steel printing plates engraved by hand, while for the rest of them the duplex technique, which was modern at the time, was used. The banknotes entered into circulation on 28 April 1928. Upon a request of the Bank of Lithuania, they were printed without watermarks and that is the reason why they were widely counterfeited.
What about the fate of brothers Tamošaitis? They came from a large family and Juozas was the one who was supposed to inherit the 50 ha land plot in the village of Barzdai and farm it. Sadly, that did not happen. Lithuania was occupied, the family was separated, Antanas Tamošaitis retreated to the west and spent most of his life in Canada, whereas his brother was exiled to Siberia. The cottage depicted on the 10 litas banknote of 1927 was also destroyed.
