Lithuanian Author, Journalist, Playwright. He is known for his 16 published books which include a collection of poems, collection of short stories, and novels. "At the Abyss" was first released in 1931 with a second edition published in 2002. He wrote five dramas also. The 1937 novel "Benjamin Kordusas" was translated into the Russian language and in 1986, a made-for-TV film with the same name, directed Vidmantas Baciulis, was released based on the novel. His main characters all struggled to live with many losing morally and physically. He often dealt with the cast system of peasants and landlords that he knew about personally. He had a hard beginning being the oldest of ten children in a poor family. He attended the railroad school and started working for the railroads as soon as he was old enough. In 1919, he enlisted in the Lithuanian Army but soon deserted and fled to Poland. Upon returning to Lithuanian, he was sentenced to life in prison but was released after ten years. It was during his imprisonment that he learned about books while working in the library. He started writing poems and upon his release sought employment as a journalist and other literary positions. He worked for the "Lithuanian Knowledge", a daily newspaper. During World War II, he served in the 16th Lithuanian Riflemen Division. On February 24, 1943, he participated in the first battle against Hitler's army in rural Aleksejevkos area of Russia. Still writing articles, he collaborated with various the newspapers such as the "Fatherland Screams," "True", and "Soviet Lithuania". From 1945 he lived in Vilnius and worked in newspapers such as "The Truth", "Peasant Newspaper", and "Literature and Art". He was writing reports and essays on various topics of life of the republic. Little was documented about his death. There were whispers of "victim of the KGB", but all agreed that he was "extraordinary Lithuanian citizen." In 1975 on what would have been his 75th birthday, a street in his hometown Radviliskis was named in his honor and his childhood home made into a museum. In 2003, the first Jonas Marcinkevicius Literary Prize was awarded to promising writers in a competition. His original books are considered collectors' items with the price of $100 a piece.