Ringaudas Bronislovas Songaila (20 April 1929 – 25 June 2019) was an official of the

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

nomenclatura. In 1987–1988, he was the First Secretary 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 ...

or the ''de facto'' head of state.

Biography

Songaila was born in

Klaipėda Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuania ...

. He graduated from a veterinary school and within five years became a deputy of the Minister of Agriculture. In 1962, at the age of 33, he became Minister of Production of Agricultural Products and Resources. In agriculture, he worked on increasing the size of

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...

s (collective farms), increasing centralization and specialization of agricultural production, elimination of

khutor A khutor ( rus, хутор, p=ˈxutər) or khutir ( uk, хутiр, pl. , ''khutory'') is a type of rural locality in some countries of Eastern Europe; in the past the term mostly referred to a single- homestead settlement.

s (single homesteads), and implementation of land improvements. Songaila was a member of the Central Committee of the

(1962–1981), 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 ...

(1981–1985; equivalent to Prime Minister), Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR (1985–1987; ''de jure'' head of state), and First Secretary of the Communist Party of Lithuania (December 1987 – October 1988; ''de facto'' head of state). He was described as a "bland" and indecisive but loyal communist who stayed away from political intrigues and showed interest only in agricultural matters. When Songaila ordered KGB and Internal Troops to forcibly disperse a rally of the radical pro-independence

Lithuanian Liberty League The Lithuanian Liberty League or LLL ( lt, Lietuvos laisvės lyga) was a dissident organization in the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic and a political party in independent Republic of Lithuania. Established as an underground resistance group i ...

on 28 September 1988, he was forced to resign one month later. He was replaced by

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 ...

, who supported

Sąjūdis Sąjūdis (, "Movement"), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Persitvarkymo Sąjūdis), is the political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was es ...

movement and Lithuania's declaration of independence in March 1990. After the resignation, Songaila retired from public life and died on 25 June 2019 at the age of 90. He was buried in the

Antakalnis Cemetery Antakalnis Cemetery ( lt, Antakalnio kapinės, pl, Cmentarz na Antokolu, be, Антокальскія могілкі), sometimes referred as Antakalnis Military Cemetery, is an active cemetery in the Antakalnis district of Vilnius, Lithuania. I ...

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 urba ...

References

1929 births 2019 deaths People from Klaipėda Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union First Secretaries of the Communist Party of Lithuania Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Heads of government of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Ministers of Agriculture of Lithuania Burials at Antakalnis Cemetery Heads of state of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic {{Lithuania-politician-stub