Saulius "Saul" Anuzis (born March 6, 1959) is the president of the

60 Plus Association The 60 Plus American Association of Senior Citizens is an American conservative advocacy group founded in 1992 and based in Alexandria, Virginia. Its stated purpose is to promote solutions to seniors' issues that are grounded in free markets, less ...

and a

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

politician from the

U.S. State In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. He was chairman of the

Michigan Republican Party The Michigan Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Michigan, sometimes referred to as MIGOP. Ronald Weiser was elected chairman in 2021. Ronna Romney McDaniel was the chairwoman of the party, having been el ...

from 2005–2009 and was also a candidate for national chairman of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...

in 2009 and 2011.

Early life

Anuzis was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, to Lithuanian immigrants, Ceslovas and Elena Anuzis. He attended

Bishop Borgess High School Bishop Borgess High School was a Catholic secondary school in the Detroit suburb of Redford, Michigan. Named after Caspar Henry Borgess, the second Roman Catholic bishop of Detroit, it was founded by the parishes of St. Suzanne (in Detroit), Our ...

and studied economics at the

University of Michigan–Dearborn The University of Michigan–Dearborn (U of M Dearborn, UM–Dearborn, or UMD) is a public university in Dearborn, Michigan. It is one of the two regional universities operating under the policies of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, ...

campus. He was the first chairman of the

College Republican College Republicans are college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. Many members belong to the organization College Republican National Committee (CRNC), College Republicans United (CRU), or various in ...

club on campus.

Personal life

Anuzis is married to Lina (née Alksninis) and they have four sons, Matas, Tadas, Vytis, and Marius. Anuzis and his family reside in

Eaton County Eaton County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 109,175. The county seat is Charlotte. The county was organized in 1837 and was named for John Eaton, who was Secretary of War under ...

. He is a gubernatorial appointee to the Michigan Jobs Commission and the Michigan Export Development Authority. He is

honorary consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

to Michigan for the Republic of Lithuania. Anuzis's parents, Ceslovas and Elena Anuzis, and paternal grandparents, Ignas and Elena Anuzis, received the

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...

award from

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

's national

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

memorial,

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

, for helping three young girls escape from a Jewish ghetto and make their way from

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 ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

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 ...

. One of those girls, now grown, nominated them for the award.

Career

In 1980, Anuzis was elected as the youngest delegate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

. He was elected third vice chairman of the Michigan Republican Party in 1981. Anuzis was a member of the Michigan Republican Party's state committee. Anuzis managed

Dick Posthumus Richard Posthumus (; born July 19, 1950) is an American businessman, and politician. He was the 61st Lieutenant Governor of Michigan and majority leader of the Michigan Senate. In 2002, he was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Governor of M ...

's first

state Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

race in 1982 and then worked closely with Posthumus throughout his career in Michigan politics, including running his unsuccessful bid for governor in 2002. During that time, Anuzis worked for the House Republican Campaign Committee, the Senate Republican Campaign Committee and as chief of staff to then-Senate Majority Leader Posthumus. In 1990, Anuzis and partner Bruce Yuille founded Coast to Coast Telecommunications. They later sold that business in 2000-2001 when Anuzis and Yuille then co-founded Quick Connect USA. In 2018, Anuzis was appointed President of 60 Plus, a conservative advocacy group. On February 5, 2005, Anuzis was elected chairman of the Michigan Republican Party. He was re-elected to a second term February 10, 2007. Anuzis ran unsuccessfully for chairman of the

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

.Anuzis jumps into RNC chair race (MSNBC)
/ref> Anuzis was elected to fill a vacancy in 2011 to the Republican National Committee as Michigan's National Committeeman. Anuzis was defeated for re-election to the Republican National Committee in 2012 by Dave Agema, a former member of the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2010 ...

who was largely backed by

Tea Party A tea party is a social gathering event held in the afternoon. For centuries, many societies have cherished drinking tea with a company at noon. Tea parties are considered for formal business meetings, social celebrations or just as an afternoon ...

activists in the Michigan Republican Party.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anuzis, Saul 1959 births American people of Lithuanian descent Living people Michigan Republican Party chairs Michigan Republicans Republican National Committee members University of Michigan–Dearborn alumni Bishop Borgess High School alumni Politicians from Detroit