Ernestas Galvanauskas

Ernestas Galvanauskas (20 November 1882 – 24 July 1967) was a Lithuanian engineer, politician, and one of the founders of the Peasant Union (which later merged with the Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union). He also served twice as Prime Minister of Lithuania.

Biography

Born in Zizonys, Biržai district municipality, in 1882, Galvanauskas completed his secondary education at the Gymnasium of Jelgava, Latvia in 1902. He then took up studies in engineering in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was active in the Russian Revolution of 1905 in Lithuania, and founded the Lithuanian Peasants' Union. Later, he was elected as a delegate to the Great Seimas of Vilnius. He was arrested and imprisoned in the Panevėžys Prison, but escaped and, with the help of Felicija Bortkevičienė, fled abroad.

Between 1906 and 1919, he lived first in Finland, then in Liège (Belgium) from 1908, where he completed his studies and received a diploma in mining engineering from the Technical University and another one from the Electrotechnical Institute. He then worked on the railroad in Serbia. In 1919, he was a member of the Lithuanian delegation at the Versailles Conference being held in Paris. In October 1919, Galvanauskas became Prime Minister of Lithuania, serving until April 1920. During that time, he also served as Minister of Finance, Trade, and Industry. In 1921, Galvanauskas was also a delegate to the League of Nations, where he worked to obtain international recognition of Lithuania.

Between February 1922 and June 1924, Galvanauskas was Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs. During this period, Galvanauskas' efforts also helped to establish the University of Lithuania in 1923. His home was the target of a bomb attack by extreme nationalists (Committee for the Salvation of Lithuania) who suspected him and his French wife to be pro-Polish, which resulted in him becoming injured. but after the first Soviet occupation, he fled to Klaipėda, which had been reoccupied by Germany in 1939. In 1941, the Nazis arrested him and he was sent into exile.

Exile At the end of 1946, Galvanauskas became head of the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania. In 1947, he emigrated to Madagascar, where he taught courses on commerce and industry. In 1963, Galvanauskas moved to France and lived there until he died in 1967 in Aix-les-Bains.

Publications Valstija ir mokesčiai, 1909 Pologne et Lithuanie, 1923 Atsiminimai, 1925