Algirdas Brazauskas Biography

Algirdas Brazauskas was the first President of the post-Soviet Lithuania. As the leader of the newly independent Lithuania which had freshly broken off from the Soviet Union, he assumed office in February 1993. Even though Lithuania had first declared independence from Germany at the end of the World War I, the country was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. Lithuania again gained her independence in 1990 after decades of political turmoil, and Brazauskas came to power at a very crucial period in the country’s history. A major figure in Lithuanian politics at the time he became the president, he had been highly influential in his motherland’s struggle for independence. He had been the last leader of Lithuanian Communists and in this role he helped pave the way for Lithuanian independence from the Soviet Union. His party denounced dictatorship and was in favor of free markets. He was also the one who led the governing party to severe its ties with the Soviet party in an act that ultimately led to Lithuania’s independence from the Soviet Union. Once he became the president, the enormous task of unifying his people and stabilizing the economy lay before him. He encouraged privatization and foreign investment, and also implemented several progressive reforms in the society. He was a popular president though he decided not to seek re-election at the end of his term