Mečislovas Gedvilas: Difference between revisions

Gedvilas served as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Lithuania (in 1946 renamed to the Council of Ministers) from August 25, 1940 to January 16, 1956 (equivalent to Prime Minister). In this capacity he signed off on persecution orders, including the mass deportation of Lithuanians into gulags and other forced settlements.^[1] From 1952 to 1956, he was a candidate to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Gedvilas was demoted to Minister of Education due to tensions and political rivalry between him andAntanas Snieckus, the first secretary of  

the Lithuanian Communist Party. Gedvilas is credited for rebuilding a number of schools and introducing eleven-year secondary education.He retired from the ministry in 1973. Gedvilas was a delegate of the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR in 1940–1975 and of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union in 1941–1962.In 1975, he published a memoir book ''Lemtingas posūkis'' (''The Fateful Change''), which was translated into Russian in 1979. The book contained essays and speeches regarding World War II (1940–1945).