Juozas Zikaras

He was born November 18, 1881, in the village of Paliūkai near Panevėžys in Lithuania (then part of the Russian Empire).

Between 1904 and 1906 he studied fine arts at the Vilnius-based Lev Trutnev Drawing School, as well as classes given by Józef Montwiłł.

In 1910, after three years in St. Petersburg, he was accepted to the Imperial Academy of Arts, from where he graduated in 1915, already after the outbreak of World War I.

It was the most important symbol of freedom in interwar Lithuania and is featured on modern 20 litas banknotes.

Another major work is the designs for all litas coins in the interwar period and the Independence Medal.

It depicts a peasant with a sack full of smuggled books on his back carefully monitoring if there are any border guards to stop him.

Zikaras also created a great number of bas-reliefs and busts depicting various famous Lithuanians.