(b. Lithuania, 22 Sept. 1932) Lithuanian; leader of Lithuanian Democratic Labour Party President of independent Lithuania 1990 – , 1993 – 98; Chairman of the Seimas (Parliament) 1992 – 93 A construction engineer and manager, Brazauskas rose rapidly in the Lithuanian Communist Party as an industry and economics specialist, becoming Minister of the Construction Materials Industry (1965 – 6), Deputy Chair of Lithuanian Gosplan (1966 – 77), and CP Secretary for Industry (1977 – 88). In October 1988 he became First Secretary of the Lithuanian CP, facing the rising tide of nationalism. To establish his nationalist credentials in December 1989 he took the Lithuanian party out of the CPSU, the first move of this kind, and became Chair of the Lithuanian Parliament. However, in March 1990 he was replaced in this post by Landsbergis, whose nationalist party Sajudis won the parliamentary elections. Brazauskas became leader of the re-formed Lithuanian Democratic Party. With the increasing unpopularity and extremism of the Sajudis government new elections were held in October 1992 which were won by the LDLP and in February 1993 Brazauskas convincingly won the presidential elections. His government has pursued a more moderate pace in economic reform, especially in agriculture, and cultivated better relations with Russia and Poland, while maintaining Lithuania's commitment to joining Western institutions.
Algirdas Brazauskas
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(b. 1932), Lithuanian political leader.
Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas emerged as a major public figure in the Soviet Union in 1988. A member of the Central Committee of the Lithuanian Communist Party (LCP) since 1976, a member of the party's biuro (equivalent of Politburo) since 1977, and by training an engineer, he had been a specialist in construction and economic planning. In 1988 he won note as a party leader who dared to appear on a public platform with the leaders of the reformist Movement for Perestroika (Sajudis) in Lithuania. He became a popular figure, and in October, with the approval of both Moscow and Sajudis leaders, he replaced Ringaudas Songaila as the party's First Secretary.
In his work as First Secretary of the LCP from 1988 to 1990, Brazauskas became a model for reformers in other republics throughout the Soviet Union. He pursued a moderate program for decentralizing the Soviet system, attempting to loosen Moscow's control of Lithuania step by step. In this he had to strike a balance between party leaders in Moscow who demanded tighter controls in Lithuania and rival Lithuanians who demanded a sharp break with Moscow. He experienced sharp criticism from both sides for being too lenient toward the other, yet he remained a popular figure within Lithuania.
Brazauskas presided over the dismantling of the Soviet system in Lithuania. In 1988 and 1989, as First Secretary of the LCP, he held the highest reins of political power in the republic, although he held no post in the republic's government. In December 1989, the Lithuanian parliament ended the Communist Party's supraconstitutional authority in the republic. Then the LCP separated itself from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In January 1990 Brazauskas took the post of president of the Lithuanian Supreme Council, Lithuania's parliament. After new elections in February and March 1990 returned a noncommunist majority, Vytautas Landsbergis became the president of the parliament, and Brazauskas lost the reins of power, although he still led the LCP and became deputy prime minister. The Lithuanian government had replaced the party as the seat of power in the republic.
During the Soviet blockade of Lithuania in 1990, Brazauskas headed a special commission that planned the most efficient use of Lithuania's limited energy resources. In January 1991 he resigned as deputy prime minister and remained in the opposition until the Lithuanian Democratic Labor Party (LDLP), the successor to the LCP in independent Lithuania, won the parliamentary elections in the fall of 1992. After serving briefly as president of the parliament, in February 1993, he was elected president of the Republic. As president he could have no party affiliation, and he accordingly withdrew from the LDLP. At the conclusion of his five-year presidential term in 1998, he retired from politics, but in 2000, still a popular figure, he returned, organizing a coalition of leftist parties that won a plurality of seats in parliamentary elections. In 2001 he assumed the post of Lithuanian prime minister.
Bibliography
Senn, Alfred Erich. (1995). Gorbachev's Failure in Lithuania. New York: St. Martin's.
Vardys, V. Stanley, and Sedaitis, Judith B. (1997). Lithuania: The Rebel Nation. Boulder, CO: Westview.
—ALFRED ERICH SENN
| Wikipedia: Algirdas Brazauskas |
| Algirdas Brazauskas | |
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| In office 1988 – 1989 |
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| Preceded by | Ringaudas Bronislovas Songaila |
| Succeeded by | Mykolas Burokevičius |
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| In office 25 February 1993 – 25 February 1998 |
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| Preceded by | Vytautas Landsbergis |
| Succeeded by | Valdas Adamkus |
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| In office 3 July 2001 – 31 May 2006 |
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| Preceded by | Eugenijus Gentvilas |
| Succeeded by | Zigmantas Balčytis |
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| Born | 22 September 1932 Rokiškis, Lithuania |
| Political party | Lithuanian Social Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Kristina Brazauskienė |
Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas (
pronunciation (help·info), born 22 September 1932) is a political figure in Lithuania. He was President of Lithuania from 1993 to 1998 and Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. His government resigned on 31 May 2006 after the large Labour Party left the governing coalition [1].
Biography
Brazauskas was born in Rokiškis, Lithuania, and graduated from Kaunas Polytechnic Institute in 1956 with a degree in civil engineering. He took various positions in the government of Lithuanian SSR and Communist Party of Lithuania since 1965:
- 1965-1967, the minister of construction materials industry of Lithuanian SSR
- 1967-1977, deputy chairman of State Planning Committee of Lithuanian SSR.
- 1977-1987, secretary of Central Committee of Communist Party of Lithuania.
In 1988, he became the first secretary of the Communist Party of Lithuania. Under his leadership, the Communist Party of Lithuania supported the Lithuanian independence movement, broke away from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and transformed itself into social-democratic Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (now merged into the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party). Brazauskas was Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (head of state) from 15 January to 11 March 1990.
After the 1992 parliamentary elections, he became speaker of the parliament and acting President of Lithuania on 25 November 1992. He then won the presidential election with 60% of the vote, was confirmed as President on 25 February 1993, and served until 25 February 1998. He decided not to seek reelection, and retire, in 1998 and was succeeded by Valdas Adamkus, who won the 1998 election.
He subsequently returned to politics, and was Prime Minister from 3 July 2001, appointed by the parliament, until 1 June 2006, when his government resigned as President Valdas Adamkus expressed no confidence in two of the Ministers, formerly Labour Party colleagues of Brazauskas, over ethical principles. Brazauskas decided not to remain in office as acting Prime Minister, and announced that he was finally retiring from politics.
Even so, he led the ruling Social Democratic Party of Lithuania for one more year, until 19 May 2007, when he passed the reins to Gediminas Kirkilas. He now serves as the honorary chairman of the party, and remains an influential voice in party politics.
Algirdas Brazauskas is an Honorary Member of The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. Brazauskas was diagnosed lymphatic cancer in December 2008.[2]
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| Preceded by Vytautas Landsbergis as Chairman of the Supreme Council |
President of Lithuania 1993–1998 |
Succeeded by Valdas Adamkus |
| Preceded by Eugenijus Gentvilas |
Prime Minister of Lithuania 2001–2006 |
Succeeded by Zigmantas Balčytis |
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 | Political Biography. A Dictionary of Political Biography. Copyright © 1998, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- Vytautas Landsbergis (Lithuanian politician)
- Lithuania (country)
- Brazauskas
- Zigmantas Balčytis
- Ringaudas Songaila
- Jonas Staugaitis
- Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania
- Petras Griškevičius
- Stasys Lozoraitis (junior)
- Artūras Paulauskas
- Laurynas Stankevičius
- Eugenijus Gentvilas
- Adolfas Šleževičius
- Irena Degutienė
