Abraomas Kulvietis (c. 1510–1545) was the first Lithuanian to put the ideals of Renaissance humanism into practice, the founder of independent religious thought in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a public critic of the shortcomings of the Church in Lithuania, and a preacher in Lithuania of the evangelical (Protestant) ideas inspired by the European Reformation. Having dared to speak out openly against the medieval system of a Church that did not serve the state and its citizens, he became the first prominent Lithuanian dissident, suffering for his efforts to improve society on the basis of the universal Christian ideals of virtue and learning. Kulvietis's worldview was based on the ideas of the early modern era, which called for giving priority to personal freedom, knowledge and the promotion of literacy in society. We can rightly call him the inspiration of the early generation of Protestants in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania who, because of persecution, had to withdraw from Lithuania to Prussia and began Lithuanian writing there. Kulvietis was born in Kulva (Kaunas district, now Jonava district); the family took the name Kulvietis after the name of the manor. At the highest point of the Jonava district, by the road to Kaunas, an obelisk was erected in honour of A. Kulvietis (architect K. Gibavičius).