Laurynas Mindaugas Stankevičius (10 August 1935 – 17 March 2017) 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 economist and politician who served as the 7th

Prime Minister of Lithuania The prime minister of Lithuania (, , colloquially also referred to as the premier ) is the head of government of Lithuania. The prime minister is appointed by the President of Lithuania, president with the assent of the Lithuanian parliament, th ...

from February to November 1996. He previously served as the Minister of Social Security and Labour from 1993 to 1994, and after being prime minister, was a member of 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 ...

from 1996 to 1998, and later

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

from 1998 to 1999. Formerly a member of the

Communist Party of Lithuania 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 ...

, following independence he joined the newly formed Democratic Labour Party.

Early life and education

Stankevičius was born in

Aukštadvaris Aukštadvaris () is a town in Trakai district municipality in Lithuania on the Verknė river. According to 2011 census, it had population of 977. Aukštadvaris features Malewski Palace, built in 1837 by Antoni Malewski, which remained with th ...

, Trakai District, on 10 August 1935, five years before Lithuania was occupied by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and became 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 ...

. He attended high school at the Antanas Vienuolis Secondary School in Vilnius, graduating in 1953. From 1953 to 1957, he attended the Leningrad Institute of Finance and Economics (now

Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance ( Russian: ''Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет экономики и финансов'') was a public university in Saint Petersb ...

Career

Soviet era

After graduation, he worked as an economist of the Lithuanian SSR Ministry of Finance, and was then governor of the Agricultural Finance Administration. From 1969, he was the permanent representative of the

Council of Ministers of the Lithuanian SSR The Council of Ministers of the Lithuanian SSR () or Council of People's Commissars in 1940–46 () was the cabinet (executive branch) of the Lithuanian SSR, one of the republics of the Soviet Union. Its structure and functions were modeled after t ...

to the

Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ˌɛsˌɛsˌɛsˈɛr), sometimes abbreviated as Sovmin or referred to as the ...

, and beginning in 1977, he was the Vice Chairman of the State Labour Committee. From 1988 to 1990, he was the First Deputy Minister of Social Security and Labour, until the Lithuanian SSR declared independence in March 1990 as the Republic of Lithuania.

Post-independence

Following independence, Stankevičius, who had been a member of the

, joined its successor party, the Democratic Labour Party. From September 1993 to July 1994, he served as Minister of Social Security and Labour under Prime Minister Adolfas Šleževičius. From 1994 to 1996, he was Minister of Administration Reforms and Self-government Affairs. On 15 February 1996, he was appointed prime minister by President

Algirdas Brazauskas Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas (, 1932 – 2010) was a Lithuanian politician who served as the fourth president of Lithuania from 1993 to 1998. He also served as the prime minister of Lithuania from 2001 to 2006. Brazauskas was the first democr ...

, a position he held until 27 November 1996, a little more than nine months total. After leaving the office of prime minister, Stankevičius was elected to the

, the Lithuanian parliament, where he served until 1998. While in the Seimas, he served on the Committee on Social Affairs and Labour. From 1998 to 1999, he served as Minister of Health under President

Valdas Adamkus Valdas Adamkus (; born Voldemaras Adamkavičius; November 3, 1926) is a Lithuanian politician, diplomat and civil engineer who served as the fifth and seventh president of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2009. Adamku ...

and Prime Minister

Gediminas Vagnorius Gediminas Vagnorius (born 10 June 1957) is a Lithuanian politician and signatory of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. He served as the Prime Minister of Lithuania, heading the government between 1991 and 1992, and again ...

. In 1999, he retired from politics, residing in Vilnius.

Personal life

Stankevičius was married to Irena Stankevičienė , a former

Supreme Court of Lithuania Supreme may refer to: Entertainment * Supreme (character), a comic book superhero created by Rob Liefeld * ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film * Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer * "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams * ...

judge. They had one daughter, Rūta (born 1970). He spoke

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

in addition to his native Lithuanian.

Death

Stankevičius died of natural causes on 17 March 2017 at the age of 81. His body was laid out in Vilnius on 20 March, and the funeral took place at Antakalnis Cemetery the next day.

Awards and honors

* Grand Commander of Order for Merits to Lithuania (2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stankevicius, Laurynas Mindaugas 1935 births 2017 deaths Burials at Antakalnis Cemetery Lithuanian communists Prime ministers of Lithuania Health ministers of Lithuania Ministers of social security and labour of Lithuania Members of the Seimas Lithuanian economists Communist Party of Lithuania politicians Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania politicians People from Vilna Governorate Politicians from Vilnius People from Trakai District Municipality