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Lazdynų Pelėda (Owl of Hazelnut) was a pseudonym of two Ivanauskaitės sisters who are more widely known by their marriage names - Sofia Pšibiliauskienė and Maria Lastauskienė. Maria had started to write in Polish and her work was freely translated to Lithuanian by Sofia. Thus the dominating role of S.Pšibiliauskienė was established.
Sofia Pšibiliauskienė was born on September 16, 1867, in Tryškiai district, Paragiai mansion, in a family of a gentry landowner. Sofia had not received regular education. In 1891 she had married a landowner R.Pšibiliauskas. The family life was not happy. In 1898 S.Pšibiliauskienė had started to co-operate in "Varpas" (The Bell) and "Ūkininkas" (The Farmer). In 1903 S.Pšibiliauskienė had moved to Vilnius with two small children. There she worked occasionally and continued literary work. In 1914 S.Pšibiliauskienė moved to Kaunas and worked in the Gallery of Čiurlionis. After some time she got ill with tuberculosis, returned back to her homeland and died on March 15, 1926.
Maria Lastauskienė was born on May 15, 1872 and lived with Sofia and her parents till sixteen years. Later she became an apprentice of a dress-maker in Šiauliai, and in three years moved to Warsaw to work at the dress-making and needlework shop of her aunt. She stayed in Warsaw for 9 years and moved to St. Petersburg. In 1903 she had married a Byelorussian student V.Lastauskis. In 1905 Maria and her husband settled down in Paragiai and later moved to Ryga. In 1907 she came to Vilnius and started literary work. She was writing in Polish, her sister was translating to Lithuanian and the work was published under the common name of Lazdynų Pelėda. This literary co-operation was not known to public, only in 1903 L.Gira had disclosed it. Only from 1926 when Sofia died M.Lastauskienė started writing in Lithuanian and published under her own name. In 1938 she moved to Kaunas and worked actively in literature. She died on July 19, 1957.
