Boleslovas Baranauskas

Boleslovas Baranauskas (; 5 October 1902 – 2 December 1975) was a Soviet politician and intelligence officer. He served as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1940 to 1951. He was also an investigator for the NKVD.

Biography Early life and interwar Lithuania Baranauskas was born on 5 October 1902 in Vaivadiškiai, Ukmergė County, Kovno Governorate, Russian Empire. He was educated in the Latvian cities of Jelgava and Riga before returning to Lithuania in 1919, living in Joniškis. He was active in the communist party, leading to him being arrested and imprisoned several times.

World War II Baranaukas was freed at the start of the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940. and Baranauskas won a seat; the parliament later that year became the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. That same year, he became the chief of security of the Šiauliai district, the deputy commissar of the NKVD (secret police) in the Lithuanian SSR and the People's Commissariat of State Security, which the Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia) described as "one of the organizers of the repressions of the Lithuanian population".

Post-war Lithuanian SSR After the Soviets reoccupied the Baltic states in 1944, Baranauskas returned and continued serving as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, a post he held until 1951; he also added the role of chairman of the Republic Council of Trade Unions of the Lithuanian SSR in 1945, which he held through 1958. He held the title until his death in 1975.