Eduardas Eismuntas (March 15, 1932 – 2019) was a former

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

officer of the

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

. In October 1987, he was promoted to

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. From April 1987 to May 1990, he was the chairman of the KGB of the Lithuanian SSR. His tenure coincided with the

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

declaration of independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

on 11 March 1990. Eismuntas was born 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 ...

, Lithuania. He joined the Soviet security apparatus in 1950 and 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 1953. He graduated from the Vilnius Operational School in 1952,

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...

in 1964, and

Academy of Foreign Intelligence The Academy of Foreign Intelligence (alternatively known as the SVR Academy, previously known as the Yuri Andropov Red Banner Institute and the Red Banner Institute) is one of the primary espionage academies of Russia, and previously the Soviet U ...

in 1968. From 1952 to 1978, Eismuntas worked in various capacities at the KGB of the Lithuanian SSR. In 1978, he was transferred to KGB in Moscow and worked as deputy director of the 2nd Section of the Fifth Department (1978–1982) and director of the 3rd Section of the Fifth Department (1982–1987). In 1987, he returned to Lithuania and became chairman of the KGB in Lithuania. The same year he was elected to the

Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR ( lt, Lietuvos TSR Aukščiausioji Taryba; russian: Верховный Совет Литовской ССР, ''Verkhovnyy Sovet Litovskoy SSR'') was the supreme soviet (main legislative institution) of the ...

. As a KGB agent, Eismuntas worked to eliminate the ''

Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania The ''Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania'' ( lt, Lietuvos katalikų bažnyčios kronika or ''LKB kronika'') was the longest-running and best-known samizdat periodical in the Lithuanian SSR, one of the republics of the Soviet Union. Follo ...

''. As the chairman of the KGB in Lithuania, he worked to suppress the independence movement and weaken emigre groups, particularly the

Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania The Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania or VLIK ( lt, Vyriausiasis Lietuvos išlaisvinimo komitetas) was an organization seeking independence of Lithuania. It was established on November 25, 1943, during the Nazi occupation. After Wor ...

. He also organized pro-Moscow groups (including

Yedinstvo Yedinstvo or Edinstvo ( rus, Единство, a=Ru-единство.ogg, p=jɪˈdʲinstvə, "Unity") was a faction within the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) between 1914 and 1917 and then a small independent party in 1917 and 1918. ...

) and removed or destroyed some of the sensitive KGB archives.

Awards

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...

* Order of the Friendship of Peoples * Honorary Officer of State Security

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eismuntas, Eduardas 1932 births 2019 deaths KGB officers People from Kaunas Vilnius University alumni Soviet major generals Lithuanian communists Communist Party of the Soviet Union members