Laurynas Mindaugas Stankevičius (10 August 1935 – 17 March 2017) was a
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n economist and politician who served as the 7th
Prime Minister of Lithuania
The prime minister of Lithuania ( lt, Ministras Pirmininkas; "Minister-Chairman") is the head of the government of Lithuania. The prime minister is Lithuania's head of government and is appointed by the president with the assent of the Lithuania ...
from February to November 1996. He previously served as the
Minister of Social Security and Labour from 1993 to 1994, and after being prime minister, was a member of the
Seimas
The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...
from 1996 to 1998, and later
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental health.
Coun ...
from 1998 to 1999. Formerly a member of the
Communist Party of Lithuania
The Communist Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos komunistų partija; russian: Коммунистическая партия Литвы) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clan ...
, following independence he joined the newly formed
Democratic Labour Party.
Early life and education
Stankevičius was born in
Aukštadvaris
Aukštadvaris is a town in Trakai district municipality in Lithuania on the Verknė river. According to 2011 census, it had population of 977.
Aukštadvaris features Malewski Palace, built in 1837 by Antoni Malewski, which remained with the ...
,
Trakai District, on 10 August 1935,
five years before Lithuania was occupied by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and became the
Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...
. He attended high school at the
Antanas Vienuolis Secondary School in Vilnius, graduating in 1953.
From 1953 to 1957, he attended the
Leningrad Institute of Finance and Economics
Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance (''Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет экономики и финансов'') was a public university in Saint Petersburg, Ru ...
(now
).
Career
Soviet era
After graduation, he worked as an economist of the
Lithuanian SSR Ministry of Finance, and was then governor of the Agricultural Finance Administration.
From 1969, he was the permanent representative of the
Council of Ministers of the Lithuanian SSR The Council of Ministers of the Lithuanian SSR ( lt, Lietuvos TSR Ministrų Taryba) or Council of People's Commissars in 1940–46 ( lt, Lietuvos TSR Liaudies Komisarų Taryba) was the cabinet (executive branch) of the Lithuanian SSR, one of the rep ...
to the
Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union
The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ɛsɛsɛˈsɛr; sometimes abbreviated to ''Sovmin'' or referred to as the '' ...
, and beginning in 1977, he was the Vice Chairman of the State Labour Committee.
From 1988 to 1990, he was the First Deputy Minister of Social Security and Labour, until the Lithuanian SSR
declared independence in March 1990 as the Republic of Lithuania.
Post-independence
Following independence, Stankevičius, who had been a member of the
Communist Party of Lithuania
The Communist Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos komunistų partija; russian: Коммунистическая партия Литвы) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clan ...
, joined its successor party, the
Democratic Labour Party.
From September 1993 to July 1994, he served as Minister of Social Security and Labour under Prime Minister
Adolfas Šleževičius.
From 1994 to 1996, he was Minister of Administration Reforms and Self-government Affairs.
On 15 February 1996, he was appointed Prime Minister by President
Algirdas Brazauskas
Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas (, 1932 – 2010) was the first President (fourth overall) of a newly re-independent post-Soviet Lithuania from 1993 to 1998 and Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006.
He also served as head of the Communist Party of Li ...
, a position he held until 27 November 1996, a little more than nine months total.
After leaving the office of prime minister, Stankevičius was elected to the
Seimas
The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...
, the Lithuanian parliament, where he served until 1998.
While in the Seimas, he served on the Committee on Social Affairs and Labour.
From 1998 to 1999, he served as Minister of Health under President
Valdas Adamkus
Valdas Adamkus (; born Voldemaras Adamkavičius; 3 November 1926) is a Lithuanian-American politician, diplomat and civil engineer. He served as the 5th and 7th President of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2009.
Adamkus' ...
and Prime Minister
Gediminas Vagnorius
Gediminas Vagnorius (born 10 June 1957) is a Lithuanian politician and signatory of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. He served as the Prime Minister of Lithuania, heading the government between 1991 and 1992, and again f ...
.
In 1999, he retired from politics, residing in Vilnius.
Personal life
Stankevičius was married to
Irena Stankevičienė , a former
Supreme Court of Lithuania
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Aukščiausiasis Teismas) is the only court of cassation in the Republic of Lithuania for reviewing effective judgements and rulings passed by the courts hearing criminal cas ...
judge.
They had one daughter, Rūta (born 1970).
He spoke
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
and
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
in addition to his native
Lithuanian.
Death
Stankevičius died of natural causes on 17 March 2017 at the age of 81.
His body was laid out in Vilnius on 20 March, and the funeral took place at
Antakalnis Cemetery the next day.
Awards and honors
*
Grand Commander of Order for Merits to Lithuania (2006)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stankevicius, Laurynas Mindaugas
1935 births
2017 deaths
Burials at Antakalnis Cemetery
Lithuanian communists
Prime Ministers of Lithuania
Health ministers of Lithuania
Ministers of Social Security and Labour of Lithuania
Members of the Seimas
Lithuanian economists
Communist Party of Lithuania politicians
Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania politicians
People from Vilna Governorate
Politicians from Vilnius
People from Trakai District Municipality