Mečislovas Davainis-Silvestraitis

Mečislovas Davainis-Silvestraitis (Polish: Mieczysław Dowojna-Sylwestrowicz; 20 April 1849 – 31 May 1919) was a Lithuanian journalist, poet, publicist, folklorist, and book smugler during the Lithuanian National Revival, best known for his collection of Lithuanian folklore.

Born to a family of petty Lithuanian nobles in Samogitia, Davainis-Silvestraitis was proud of his heritage. However, he showed little interest in working the inherited manor and accumulated debts. Having completed only three years of secondary education, he was interested in Lithuanian history, culture, and folklore. He collected about 700 folk tales, 250 folk songs, 500 short folklore sayings, 600 spells, 1,000 descriptions of folk medicine and medicinal herbs – most of which was collected in 1883–1890 in the area around Raseiniai. With the help of Jonas Basanavičius, he published a booklet with ten tales and five songs in 1889 and a collection of 159 folk remedies in 1898. With the help of Jan Aleksander Karłowicz, he published two volumes of Lithuanian folk tales translated into Polish in 1894. His work helped to prove that Lithuanian folk tales published by Edmund Veckenstedt in 1883 were falsified. Davainis-Silvestraitis also contributed articles to Polish, Russian, and English journals on ethnographic topics.

Debts forced him to give up the manor in 1891 and start a nomadic life in search of means of living. He struggled financially and took assorted jobs. In 1904, he settled in Vilnius and joined the Lithuanian cultural life becoming a members of various Lithuanian societies. He was one of the organizers of the Great Seimas of Vilnius but started drifting away from the Lithuanian public life due to anti-nobility attitudes. He edited and published the Polish-language newspapers Litwa (1908–1914) and Lud (1912–1913) that were aimed at Polish-speaking nobles and peasants in hopes that they could be convinced to "return" to their Lithuanian roots. However, the newspapers offered no new ideas and did not become popular.

During his life, Davainis-Silvestraitis contributed texts to numerous Lithuanian periodicals, including Aušra (82 texts in 1883–1886), Vienybė lietuvninkų (a paid correspondent in 1891–1896), Lietuvių laikraštis (briefly worked as an editorial staff in 1904–1905). He also wrote romantic poetry and published two booklets with his poems in 1884 and 1904.