Mečislovas Gedvilas (19 October 1901 – 15 February 1981) 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 Communist politician who collaborated with occupying Soviet forces. He served as the first Prime Minister of the

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...

from 1940 to 1956. Rivalry 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 ('' de facto'' leader of Lithuanian SSR) from 15 August 1940 to his death on 22 January 1974. ...

, the first secretary of the

Lithuanian Communist Party The Communist Party of Lithuania (; ) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clandestinely until it was legalized in 1940 after the Soviet invasion and occupation. The party was ...

, led to his demotion to Minister of Education (1957–1973).

Early life and career

Born at

Bubiai Bubiai is a village in Kaunas district municipality, in Kaunas County, in central 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 eas ...

Kovno Governorate Kovno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Kovno (Kaunas). It was formed on 18 December 1842 by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Nicholas I from the western part of Vilna Govern ...

in 1901, Gedvilas and his family were deported to Russia for violation of the

Lithuanian press ban The Lithuanian press ban () was a ban on all Lithuanian language publications printed in the Latin alphabet, in force from 1865 to 1904, within the Russian Empire, which controlled Lithuania proper at the time. Lithuanian-language publications t ...

in 1904. At first they moved to

Rybinsk Rybinsk (, ) is the second-largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Yaroslavl Oblast in Russia. It lies at the confluence of the Volga and Sheksna rivers, north-north-east of Moscow. Population: It was previously known as '' ...

and then to Pavlovsk near

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Gedvilas studied at the

Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology (Technical University) () was founded in 1828. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Russia, and currently trains around 5,000 students. History In the past, the institute w ...

from 1919 to 1922. After returning to Lithuania he worked as a teacher of algebra, geometry, bookkeeping in

Palanga Palanga (; ; ) is a resort town, resort city in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Palanga is the busiest and the largest summer resort in Lithuania and has sand, sandy beaches (18 km, 11 miles long and up to 300 metres, 10 ...

(1923–1927) but was dismissed for not having any pedagogical education or qualifications. He supported left-wing political organizations and publications. In 1926, he joined the

Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union The Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union (, LVLS) was a centre-left political party in Lithuania between 1922 and 1936. The party's leaders included the third President Kazys Grinius and three-term Prime Minister Mykolas Sleževičius. History Th ...

but quickly became disappointed by its conservatism and left it in 1931. After the

Tauragė Revolt The Tauragė Revolt () was an anti-government revolt that took place in Tauragė, Lithuania on 9 September 1927. Members of the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania and Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union wanted to remove President Antanas Smetona ...

in September 1927, Gedvilas was sent to the Varniai concentration camp for two months even though he was not involved in the revolt. After his release from Varniai, Gedvilas settled in

Telšiai Telšiai (; Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Telšē'') is a city in Lithuania with about 21,499 inhabitants. It is the capital of Telšiai County and Samogitia region, and it is located on the shores of Lake Mastis. Telšiai is one of the ol ...

and worked as editor of several newspapers, including ''Žemaitis'', ''Žibintas'', ''Darbo žemaitis'', that were critical of the authoritarian regime of

Antanas Smetona Antanas Smetona (; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual, journalist and politician. He served as the first president of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and later as the authoritarian head of state from 1926 until the Occu ...

. For these activities he was briefly jailed several times. In 1931, Gedvilas was elected to the board of the state patient fund in

and worked as its director until 1940. Troubles with the law enforcement brought Gedvilas closer to the communist activists. In 1934, he joined the Communist Party of Lithuania. The same year, he was elected to the Telšiai city council. He was a board member of the Freethinkers' Society of Ethical Culture.

In Soviet Lithuania

After the Soviet ultimatum in June 1940, Gedvilas became Minister of Internal Affairs in the People's Government and was elected to the

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

where he became the first vice-chairman. He helped to transition Lithuania into the

Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was ''de facto'' one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944 ...

, thus legitimizing the Soviet occupation. Gedvilas served as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Lithuania (in 1946 renamed to the Council of Ministers) from 25 August 1940 to 16 January 1956 (position equivalent to Prime Minister). In this capacity he supervised Sovietization of Lithuania and signed off on persecution orders, including the mass deportation of Lithuanians into

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

s and other forced settlements. In 1944, he led a delegation that signed an agreement with the

Polish Committee of National Liberation The Polish Committee of National Liberation ( Polish: ''Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego'', ''PKWN''), also known as the Lublin Committee, was an executive governing authority established by the Soviet-backed communists in Poland at the la ...

that led to the repatriation of Poles. From 1952 to 1956, he was a candidate to the

Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the Central committee, highest organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Congresses. Elected by the ...

. In 1957, Gedvilas was demoted to Minister of Education due to tensions and political rivalry between him and

, the first secretary of the

. Gedvilas is credited for rebuilding a number of schools and introducing eleven-year secondary education. In 1950–1972, 302 schools were built and another 935 expanded. He retired from the ministry in 1973. Gedvilas was a delegate of the

Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR (; , ''Verkhovnyy Sovet Litovskoy SSR'') was the supreme soviet (main legislative institution) of the Lithuanian SSR, one of the republics constituting the Soviet Union. The Supreme Soviet was established ...

in 1940–1975 and of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the So ...

in 1941–1962. In 1975, he published a memoir book ''Lemtingas posūkis'' (''The Fateful Change''), which was translated into Russian in 1979. The book contained essays and speeches regarding World War II (1940–1945). In total, he wrote about 600 articles to various Lithuanian periodicals. He died in 1981 and was buried in Antakalnis Cemetery.

Awards

Gedvilas was awarded numerous Soviet medals and orders, including four

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on 31 October 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferred upon individuals or groups for services furthering communis ...

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War () is a Soviet Union, Soviet military Order (decoration), decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to Partisan (military), partisans for heroic deeds in the Easte ...

(1st and 2nd class),

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples () was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military units, as well as administrative subdivisions of the USSR for accomplishments in s ...

. In 1945, he was awarded the Polish

Order of the Cross of Grunwald The Order of the Cross of Grunwald (') was a military decoration created in Poland in November 1943 by the High Command of Gwardia Ludowa, a World War II Polish resistance movement organised by the Polish Workers Party. On 20 February 1944 it ...

(1st class).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gedvilas, Mecislovas 1901 births 1981 deaths People from Šiauliai District Municipality People from Shavelsky Uyezd Candidates of the Central Committee of the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union First convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Second convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Third convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Fourth convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Fifth convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Communist Party of Lithuania politicians Heads of government of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Interior ministers of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Lithuanian collaborators with the Soviet Union (1940–41) Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology alumni Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Burials at Antakalnis Cemetery