Algirdas Saudargas

Algirdas Saudargas
Saudargas in 2009
17th Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
11 April 1990 – 17 December 1992
Prime MinisterKazimira Prunskienė
Albertas Šimėnas
Gediminas Vagnorius
Aleksandras Abišala
Preceded byStasys Antanas Bačkis
(as head of the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service)
Succeeded byPovilas Gylys
19th Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
10 December 1996 – 9 November 2000
Prime MinisterGediminas Vagnorius
Rolandas Paksas
Andrius Kubilius
Preceded byPovilas Gylys
Succeeded byAntanas Valionis
Personal details
Born (1948-04-17) 17 April 1948 (age 76)
Kaunas, Lithuania
Political partyHomeland Union
European People's Party
Children2 incl. Paulius Saudargas
Alma materKaunas Institute of Medicine


Algirdas Saudargas (born April 17, 1948) is a Lithuanian politician and the signatory of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. He was the first foreign minister of Lithuania after it regained independence.

Biography

In 1966, he completed his secondary education at Saulė High School in Kaunas. He then went on to graduate from the Kaunas Institute of Medicine in 1972 with a degree in biophysics. Between 1972 and 1977, he held the position of junior research fellow at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Physics and Mathematics. From 1977 to 1982, he worked as a senior lecturer at the Lithuanian Academy of Agriculture, and from 1982 to 1986 he was a Senior Research Fellow at the Kaunas Branch of the Institute for Biological Research of Chemical Compounds. From 1986 to 1990, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the Central Research Laboratory, Neurosurgery Laboratory of the Kaunas Institute of Medicine.[1]

Political career

Since 1988 Saudargas has been an active member of Sąjūdis. In 1989 he was one of the re-establishers of the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party. In 1990 he led the Christian Democrat list in the Supreme Council elections and was elected to the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania.[2]

He served as a Minister of Foreign Affairs from April 11, 1990, to December 17, 1992, and again from December 4, 1996, to October 30, 2000. In his first term as foreign minister Saudargas has contributed to Lithuania's international recognition and involvement in international organisations.[2] In 1992, Algirdas Saudargas, together with 9 other Baltic Ministers of Foreign Affairs and an EU commissioner, founded the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) and the EuroFaculty.[3]

From 2009 until 2019 Saudargas was elected to the European Parliament.

Seimas
New constituency Member of the Seimas for Vilijampolė
1990–1992 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Seimas for Aleksotas-Vilijampolė
2000–2004 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Stasys Lozoraitis Jr.
as Chief of Lithuanian Diplomatic Service
 Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
1990–1992 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
1996–2000 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ "Algirdas Saudargas (1990–1992 ir 1996–2000)". www.urm.lt (in Lithuanian). URM. Archived from the original on 2011-01-02. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Algirdas Saudargas". vle.lt. LNB Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  3. ^ Kristensen, Gustav N. 2010. Born into a Dream. EuroFaculty and the Council of the Baltic Sea States. Berliner Wissentshafts-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8305-1769-6.


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