Lithuania's first prime minister, later leader of the far-right Iron Wolf
Dissolving the Seimas in 1928, he quipped that he had promised to hold elections but had made no promise about the year.
Prime minister and foreign minister of Lithuania's first cabinet in November 1918, he later fought the Vilnius question in Paris and at the League of Nations. Prime minister again after the 1926 coup, he led the far-right Iron Wolf, broke with Smetona and died in a Soviet prison in 1942.
Activities and affiliations
-
1918–1920
Lithuania state institutionsPrime Minister, Minister of Foreign AffairsMain
Government and administration -
1924–
Lithuanian Nationalists' Union
Political and party leadership
Career Timeline
- 1910Master's degree in history and philology, St. Petersburg University
- 1916Professor at Perm University; joined the Party of National Progress
- 1918First prime minister and foreign minister (Nov); head delegate to the Paris Peace Conference
- 1918–1920Foreign minister in successive cabinets
- 1926Member of the Third Seimas; prime minister and foreign minister after the December coup
- 1928Border treaty with Germany; de facto leader of the far-right Iron Wolf
- 1929Ousted by President Smetona and exiled
- 1934–1938Imprisoned after the failed coup; exiled to France in 1938
Related historical events
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionLithuania’s first prime minister and foreign ministerFirst prime minister from November 1918, he delayed creating an army and resigned, then as foreign minister fought the Vilnius question in Paris and at the League of Nations.
- 1918.11–1920.10Baltic wars of independence and border settlementsLithuania’s first prime minister and foreign ministerFirst prime minister from November 1918, he delayed creating an army and resigned, then as foreign minister fought the Vilnius question in Paris and at the League of Nations.
Revolution and independence wars
A historian who taught ancient history at St Petersburg University, he joined the Lithuanian Council in 1917 and on 11 November 1918 became prime minister and foreign minister of the first cabinet. Declaring that 'Lithuania has no enemies', he delayed creating an army and resigned in December as the Red Army approached, but as foreign minister he then fought the Vilnius question at the Paris Peace Conference and the League of Nations. Prime minister again after the coup of December 1926, he dissolved parliament in 1927 and led the far-right Iron Wolf, but broke with Smetona and was dismissed in 1929, imprisoned after an attempted coup in 1934 and expelled from the country. Returning just after the Soviet occupation of 1940, he was arrested and died in a Moscow prison in 1942.