Emilija Spudaitė-Gvildienė (13 September 1887 – 2 July 1965) was a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n educator and politician. In 1920 she was one of five women elected to the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, Lithuania's first female parliamentarians. She remained a member of parliament until 1927.

Biography

Spudaitė-Gvildienė was born in Topeliškės in 1887 into the family of a small trader. She was educated at Riga City School until 1902 and then Riga Krotova Gymnasium, graduating in 1908. The following year she moved to Lithuania and began teaching at a school in

Žemaičių Kalvarija Žemaičių Kalvarija (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Žemaitiu Kalvarėjė'', ) is a town in Plungė district municipality, Lithuania. It is known as a List of Catholic pilgrimage sites in Lithuania, major site for Catholic pilgrimage. Eve ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

she temporarily relocated to Moscow from 1915 to 1917, teaching in the Moscow Lithuanian School. After returning to Lithuania in 1918 she taught at gymnasiums in

Šeduva Šeduva () is a town in the Radviliškis district municipality, Lithuania. It is located east of Radviliškis. Šeduva was an agricultural town dealing in cereals, flax and linseed, pigs and geese and horses, at the site of a royal estate and ...

and

Pakruojis Pakruojis (; ) is a city in Lithuania. It is situated on the Kruoja River, which has a dam above the city. Forty three buildings of the manor, mentioned in 1531 still survive. History Pakruojis and it neighbourhood are within the boundaries of th ...

and founded women's associations in both towns. A member of the

Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party The Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party (, LKDP) was a Christian-democratic political party in Lithuania. History Russian Empire and Republic of Lithuania A Christian Democratic movement was established in Lithuania in 1890 by a group of Ro ...

, in 1920 she was elected to the Constituent Assembly from constituency V, Panevėžys. She was re-elected in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

and

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

, serving in the

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of Government of Lithuania, govern ...

until it was dissolved following the 1926 coup. After the Seimas was disbanded, she served as chair of the Lithuanian Catholic Women's Society. During the 1940s she taught in schools in Balbieriškis, Kalviai and

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

. She died in Kaunas in 1965.Emilija Spudaitė-Gvildienė (1887-1965)
Seimas

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spudaitė-Gvildienė, Emilija 1887 births Lithuanian schoolteachers Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party politicians Members of the Seimas 20th-century Lithuanian women politicians 20th-century Lithuanian politicians 1965 deaths Women members of the Seimas