Juozapas Ambraziejus

Juozapas Ambraziejus or Ambrozevičius (1855–1915) was a Roman Catholic priest active in Lithuanian culture life in Vilnius in 1896–1908.

Educated at the Sejny Priest Seminary, Ambraziejus first worked in the Diocese of Łomża before he transferred to the Diocese of Vilnius in 1892. He worked at several rural parishes before he received a position in Vilnius. He joined Lithuanian cultural life in the city and was one of the organizers of the illegal club known as the Twelve Apostles of Vilnius which later grew into the Lithuanian Mutual Aid Society of Vilnius. He was one of the first organizers of Lithuanian cultural evenings (though they were illegal until 1904–1905) and organized the first Lithuanian choirs in the city. He campaigned for the use of the Lithuanian language at Catholic churches and attempted to combat Polonization efforts of local clergy. In particular, he opposed bishop Edward von Ropp and was suspended from his priestly duties in 1906. He published a catechism which was added to Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the list of prohibited books by the Vatican, in 1907. After the Lithuanian press ban was lifted in 1904, Ambraziejus established the illustrated agricultural magazine Lietuvos bitininkas (Lithuanian Beekeeper) which was later reorganized as Šviesa (Light). When the publication failed in 1908, Ambraziejus retired from public life and ran a shelter for the city's poor until his death in 1915.