Leonidas Donskis
| Leonidas Donskis | |
|---|---|
| Born |
13 August 1962 Klaipėda, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | 21 September 2016 (aged 54) Vilnius, Lithuania |
| Spouse(s) | Jolanta Donskienė |
Leonidas Donskis (13 August 1962 – 21 September 2016) was a Lithuanian philosopher, political theorist, historian of ideas, social analyst, and political commentator, professor of politics and head of "VDU Academia Cum Laude" at Vytautas Magnus University, Honorary Consul of Finland in Kaunas and deputy chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. He was also the member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2014.
As a public figure in Lithuania, he acted as a defender of human rights and civil liberties. In 2004, Donskis has been awarded by the European Commission the title of the Ambassador for Tolerance and Diversity in Lithuania. A center-right politician, he has always been opposed to all extreme or exclusionary attitudes and forms of violent politics, and, instead, has been leaning to liberalism with its advocacy of individual reason and conscience, ability to coexist with democratic programs of other non-exclusive ideologies, and moderation.
He died on 21 September 2016, in Vilnius Airport of an apparent heart attack.
Leonidas Donskis was born in Klaipėda in Lithuanian Jewish family. He graduated from Lithuanian State Conservatoire (now Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater), majoring in philology and theater, and then pursued his graduate studies in philosophy at the University of Vilnius, Lithuania. Having received his first doctorate in philosophy from the University of Vilnius, he later earned his second doctorate in social and moral philosophy from the University of Helsinki, Finland.
His main scholarly interests lie in philosophy of history, philosophy of culture, philosophy of literature, philosophy of the social sciences, civilization theory, political theory, history of ideas, and studies in Central and East European thought.
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