Aleksandras Stulginskis
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Aleksandras Stulginskis ( ) (born February 26, 1885 , Kutaliai , now Šilalė Rajongemeinde ; † September 22, 1969 in Kaunas ) was the second President of Lithuania (1920-1926), a founding member of the Christian Democratic Party of Lithuania founded in 1917 and chairman of the Central Committee of the party, member of the Lithuanian Council (later State Council), signatory of the Lithuanian Declaration of Independence signed on February 16, 1918.
Life
Stulginskis was born into a family who worked in agriculture. He received his education at the elementary school in Kaltinenai and at the Liepaja high school in Kaunas. After graduating from high school, he studied philosophy and theology at the University of Innsbruck . After his decision not to pursue a career as a priest, he studied from 1910 to 1913 and from 1914 to 1915 at the Institute for Agronomy in Halle , at the oldest agricultural faculty in Germany.
In 1913 he started working as an agronomist in Lithuania and wrote a lot in the Lithuanian press of the time, mostly about problems of agricultural development.
When the Germans occupied Lithuania, he moved to Vilnius and got involved in Lithuanian organizations, e.g. B. Education courses for elementary school teachers and social activities.
In 1917, Stulginskis was one of the founding members of the Christian Democratic Party and was elected chairman of the party's central committee. He was one of the organizers of the Lithuanian Conference of Vilnius , where he was elected to the Lithuanian Council (later the Council of State ). On February 16, 1918 , he signed the Declaration of Independence.
After the October Revolution , Stulginskis formed a Lithuanian army and organized the defense of Lithuania against the Bolsheviks and the Poles. In the first governments after independence he served in various functions.
In May 1920 he was elected chairman of the constituent Seimas and president. In 1922 and 1923 he was re-elected chairman of the Seimas. He held the office of president until 1926.
After the coup d'état of December 17, 1926, Stulginskis was again appointed chairman of the 4th Seimas until the Seimas was dissolved. Stulginskis withdrew to his estate and only spoke to the press. At the first world congress of the Lithuanians, he urged the observance of the basic democratic rules in Lithuania.
After the occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union , Stulginskis and his wife were arrested. He spent several years in the gulag until he was allowed to return to Lithuania in 1956, after Stalin's death .
In 1969 Stulginskis died in Kaunas, where he is also buried.
A plaque in honor of the second President of the Republic of Lithuania and former students of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) was unveiled in Halle in January 2011. The German-Lithuanian Society donated the memorial plaque.
Pro memoria
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- ↑ Former President of Lithuania is honored (created January 20, 2011, 8:02 am, updated January 20, 2011, 4:26 pm)
Web links
- Biography (English)
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
|
Antanas Smetona Jonas Staugaitis |
President of Lithuania 1920 - 1926 1926 |
Kazys Grinius Antanas Smetona |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Stulginskis, Aleksandras |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Lithuanian politician, president (1920–1926) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 26, 1885 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kutaliai , Kovno Governorate , Russian Empire |
| DATE OF DEATH | 22nd September 1969 |
| Place of death | Kaunas , Soviet Union |