Leonas Bistras
| Leonas Bistras | |
|---|---|
| Prime Minister of Lithuania | |
|
In office 25 September 1925 – 31 May 1926 |
|
| Preceded by | Vytautas Petrulis |
| Succeeded by | Mykolas Sleževičius |
| Minister of Education | |
|
In office 18 June 1923 – 4 February 1924 |
|
| Prime Minister | Antanas Tumėnas |
| Preceded by | Petras Juodakis |
| Succeeded by | Kazys Jokantas |
|
In office 17 December 1926 – 3 May 1927 |
|
| Prime Minister | Augustinas Voldemaras |
| Preceded by | Vincas Čepinskis |
| Succeeded by | Konstantinas Šakenis |
|
In office 28 March 1939 – 21 November 1939 |
|
| Prime Minister | Jonas Černius |
| Preceded by | Juozas Tonkūnas |
| Succeeded by | Kazimieras Jokantas |
| Minister of Defence | |
|
In office 25 September 1925 – 31 May 1926 |
|
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Teodoras Daukantas |
| Succeeded by | Juozas Papečkis |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
|
In office 21 April 1925 – 31 May 1926 |
|
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Mečislovas Reinys |
| Succeeded by | Mykolas Sleževičius |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
20 October 1890 Liepāja, Courland Governorate, Russian Empire (now Latvia) |
| Died | 17 October 1971 (aged 80) Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Resting place | Petrašiūnai Cemetery |
| Political party | Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party |
| Alma mater | University of Freiburg |
Leonas Bistras (20 October 1890 in Liepāja – 17 October 1971 in Kaunas) was one of the most prominent Lithuanian politicians of the interwar period. A Christian Democrat, he rose to the peak of his career in 1925, when he was appointed as the Prime Minister of Lithuania. Bistras also headed the ministries of education, defense and foreign affairs in several different governments throughout 1920s and 1930s and twice served as the speaker of the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas. After the 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état and the subsequent fall of parliamentary democracy, Bistras led the Christian Democrats and, despite persecution, acted as an outspoken leader of the opposition to the authoritarian President Antanas Smetona.
After the Soviet occupation and annexation of Lithuania, Bistras was arrested, sentenced without a trial and deported from Lithuania, only returning permanently after the death of Josef Stalin. Bistras lived the remaining years of his life in obscurity and poverty, supported only by the local people of Kaunas.
Bistras was born in 1890 to a working-class family in Liepāja, Courland Governorate of the Russian Empire (now in Latvia), where his father had emigrated. He graduated from a local gymnasium in 1911.
Bistras attempted studying medicine at the University of Geneva, switching to philosophy at the University of Freiburg a year later. He then returned to studying medicine in Dorpat (now Tartu), but was unable to finish due to the complex international environment leading up to World War I. Upon the start of the war, Bistras was conscripted to the Imperial Russian Army and served in Russia until the Bolshevik Revolution, initially as a private and later as a medic. After the war, Bistras returned to Lithuania and helped to establish the Kaunas municipality, and worked for the press office in Lithuania and Switzerland.
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