Vytautas Sakalauskas (24 April 1933 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 ...

– 29 May 2001 in Vilnius) 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 Soviet politician who was the last

Chairman of the Council of Ministers The President of the Council of Ministers (sometimes titled Chairman of the Council of Ministers) is the most senior member of the cabinet in the executive branch of government in some countries. Some Presidents of the Council of Ministers are t ...

(Prime Minister) of 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 ...

before Lithuanian independence in 1990.

Biography

Sakalauskas served his compulsory military service in a sapper battalion in the Kirghiz SSR and Uzbek SSR between 1950 and 1953. After graduation from

Kaunas Polytechnic Institute Kaunas University of Technology (abbreviated as KTU, ) is a public research university located in Kaunas, Lithuania. Established in 1922, KTU has been one of the top centers of Lithuanian science education. According to Lithuanian National Univ ...

in 1956, Sakalauskas worked as a master metal welder in engineering and transportation departments of various State-owned companies until 1969. He joined the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

in 1955. From 1955 to 1983, he was a member of the Vilnius branch of the Lithuanian Communist Party, becoming the branch's first secretary in 1974. Sakalauskas was elected to 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 ...

in 1974 and the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR in 1976. From 1985 to 1990, he was the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (equivalent to Prime Minister). Sakalauskas was not re-elected to the Supreme Soviet in the parliamentary elections in 1990 and largely retired from Lithuanian politics. He headed the Soviet trade mission in Maputo, Mozambique. In preparation for the events of January 1991, the KGB brought Sakalauskas to Moscow in an attempt to recruit him for the planned coup by the National Salvation Committee. Sakalauskas was offered to head the planned pro-Moscow government, but he refused and returned to Mozambique. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he returned to Lithuania and worked in the private sector.

References

1933 births 2001 deaths Politicians from Kaunas Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union candidate members Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania Heads of government of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Kaunas University of Technology alumni {{lithuania-politician-stub