Algirdas Brazauskas
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His Excellency Algirdas Brazauskas |
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| First Secretary of Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania | |
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In office 1988–1989 |
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| Preceded by | Ringaudas Bronislovas Songaila |
| Succeeded by | Mykolas Burokevičius |
| President of Lithuania | |
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In office 25 November 1992 – 25 February 1998 Acting: 25 November 1992 – 25 February 1993 |
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| Preceded by | Vytautas Landsbergis (as Chairman of the Supreme Council of Lithuania) |
| Succeeded by | Valdas Adamkus |
| Prime Minister of Lithuania | |
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In office 3 July 2001 – 31 May 2006 |
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| Preceded by | Eugenijus Gentvilas |
| Succeeded by | Zigmantas Balčytis |
| Speaker of the Seimas | |
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In office 25 November 1992 – 25 February 1993 |
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| Preceded by | Vytautas Landsbergis (as Chairman of the Supreme Council of Lithuania) |
| Succeeded by | Česlovas Juršėnas |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
22 September 1932 Rokiškis, Lithuania |
| Died | 26 June 2010 (aged 77) Vilnius, Lithuania |
| Political party |
Communist Party of Lithuania (1957–1990) Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1959-1989) Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (1990–2001) Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (2001–2010) |
| Spouse(s) | Julija Brazauskienė Kristina Brazauskienė |
| Children | 2 daughters (from first marriage) |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Soviet Union
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| Service/branch |
 Soviet Navy
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| Years of service | 1956-1960 |
| Rank |
 Starshina 1st stage
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Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas ([ˈɐ̂ˑlʲɡʲɪrd̪ɐs̪ ˈmʲîːkoːɫɐs̪ brɐˈz̪ɐ̂ˑʊs̪kɐs̪], 22 September 1932 – 26 June 2010) was the first President of a newly 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 Lithuania that broke with Moscow.
Brazauskas was born in Rokiškis, Lithuania. He finished Kaišiadorys High School in 1952 and graduated from Kaunas Polytechnic Institute in 1956 with a degree in civil engineering. He later served as a Conscript sailor in the Soviet Navy, serving as a Fire controlman onboard the Riga-class frigate Rosomacha until 1960 In 1967 Brazauskas started working in the Governmental Planning Committee, as a Committee's head's assistant. In 1974, Brazauskas received PhD in Economics.
He divorced his first wife, Julia, with whom he had two daughters; he married Kristina Butrimienė in 2002.
He rose to politics in the 1980s, as the Soviet Union was undergoing radical change. In turn he transformed himself from a Communist Party apparatchik to a moderate reformer. He was seen as cautious by nature, and when confronted by the tide of nationalist feeling in the Soviet empire Brazauskas initially believed that the old USSR might be reconstituted as a looser federation of independent, but communist, states. In seeing the tide of an independent democracy, he joined the reformist cause observing in 1990 that "We are realists now, and we cannot be propagating any utopian ideas. It's no secret [that] the Communist Party has a dirty history."
Though he sought to avoid a breach with Moscow in 1989, as leader of Lithuania's Communist Party, he formally severed the party's links with Moscow. This was rare in that no other former Soviet republics dared to take this step. Some believe that this act confirmed the inevitability of the demise of the Soviet Union.
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Wikipedia