Motiejus or Matas Šumauskas (2 October 1905 in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

– 28 May 1982 in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

) 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 communist activist and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

politician. He served as the chairman of the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

(equivalent to Prime Minister) from 1956 to 1963 and chairman of the presidium of the

Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR ( lt, Lietuvos TSR Aukščiausioji Taryba; russian: Верховный Совет Литовской ССР, ''Verkhovnyy Sovet Litovskoy SSR'') was the supreme soviet (main legislative institution) of the ...

(''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' head of state) from 1967 to 1975. Šumauskas received only primary education and earned a living working at a printing press. He joined the

Lithuanian Communist Party 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 cla ...

in 1924. For his communist activities he was jailed in 1929, served a six-year sentence from 1931 to 1937, and was imprisoned again in 1939. Šumauskas was freed after the Soviet ultimatum in June 1940 and was elected to the

People's Seimas The People's Seimas ( lt, Liaudies Seimas) was a puppet legislature organized in order to give legal sanction the occupation and annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union. After the Soviet ultimatum in June 1940, a new pro-Soviet government wa ...

. He became

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the trade unions and

People's Commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and Eas ...

of Local Industry of the

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he retreated to the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

, joined the

16th Rifle Division The 16th Rifle Division (russian: 16-я стрелковая Литовская Клайпедская Краснознамённая дивизия, translit=16-ya strelkovaya Litovskaya Klaypedskaya Krasnoznamonnaya diviziya; ; lt, 16-oji 'Lie ...

and was a

Soviet partisan Soviet partisans were members of resistance movements that fought a guerrilla war against Axis forces during World War II in the Soviet Union, the previously Soviet-occupied territories of interwar Poland in 1941–45 and eastern Finland. The ...

leader in the environs of

Švenčionys Švenčionys (, known also by several alternative names) is a town located north of Vilnius in Lithuania. It is the capital of the Švenčionys district municipality. , it had population of 4,065 of which about 17% is part of the Polish minority ...

and

Lake Narach Lake Narach ( be, На́рач, ''Narač'' ; russian: На́рочь, ''Naročj''; lt, Narutis, pl, Narocz) is a lake in north-western Belarus ( Myadzyel District, Minsk Region), located in the basin of the Viliya river. It is the largest lake ...

. After the war, Šumauskas became deputy chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1944–1950, 1953–1954). He replaced

Mečislovas Gedvilas Mečislovas Gedvilas (19 October 1901 – 15 February 1981) was a Lithuanian Communist politician who collaborated with occupying Soviet forces. He served as the first Prime Minister of the Lithuanian SSR from 1940 to 1956. Rivalry between him and ...

as the chairman of the Council of Ministers in 1956. Gedvilas was demoted to Minister of Education due to tensions between him and

Antanas Sniečkus Antanas Sniečkus ( – 22 January 1974) was a Lithuanian communist politician who served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Lithuania from 15 August 1940 to 22 January 1974. Biography Sniečkus was born in 1903, in the village of ...

, the First Secretary of the Lithuanian Communist Party. From 1967 to 1975 Šumauskas served as the chairman of the presidium of the

and the

deputy chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the presidium of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...

. He was also a member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

of the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the Lithuanian Communist Party.

References

External links

Full-text of ''Wonderful deeds ahead'' (1960) by Motiejus Šumauskas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sumauskas, Motiejus 1905 births 1982 deaths Burials at Antakalnis Cemetery Politicians from Kaunas People from Kovensky Uyezd Candidates of the Central Committee of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Candidates of the Central Committee of the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Candidates of the Central Committee of the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Candidates of the Central Committee of the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Second convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Third convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Fourth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Fifth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Sixth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Seventh convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Eighth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Ninth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania Heads of state of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Heads of government of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Soviet partisans