Ernestas Galvanauskas

Ernestas Galvanauskas ( born November 20, 1882 in Zizonys at Biržai; † July 24, 1967 in Aix -les- Bains, France) was a Lithuanian politician and Prime Minister.

• 3.1 Notes and references

Life

Study and career

After graduation in 1902, he completed until 1904 and then again in 1906 to study engineering at the Engineering Science Institute of Saint Petersburg, which he completed in 1908. Galvanauskas was then as an engineer in Liege ( Belgium), where he specialized in mining engineering in 1912 and 1913 earned a diploma as an electrical engineer. He then worked as an employee of a consortium of French banks in Serbia.

First political activities

After the events of the Russian Revolution, he was one merged the founders of the Union of Small Farmers ( Lietuvos Valstiečių sąjunga ) located in the following year with the Lithuanian Democratic Party ( Lietuvos demokratų partija ) on 1905. On 4 and 5 December 1905 he was a participant of the influenced by the events of the Russian Revolution, the Great Seimas of Vilnius. In this case, it was the first modern congress in Lithuania, mainly focused on national issues. Ultimately, the Great Seimas took the decision by a large degree of autonomy within the Russian Empire. During this time he was also the author of several articles in the " Vilna News " ( Vilniaus žinios ) and the weekly " Lithuanian Owner" ( Lietuvos Ūkininkas ).

Lithuanian independence and Prime Minister from 1919 to 1920

After the independence of Lithuania on November 2, 1918, he was in 1919 as a member of the Lithuanian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference at. At the same time, he was head of the Lithuanian Information Bureau in Paris.

Already on October 7, 1919 he was a representative of the Democratic Party ( Demokratų Partija ) first appointed as the successor of Mykolas Sleževičius prime minister. At the same time he took in his reigning until June 19, 1920 Government of the Office of the Minister of Finance, Trade and Industry. From the perspective of Poland, with which it later came into conflict because of the annexation of Memel, especially was this first term as politically weak.

His successor as Prime Minister in 1920 Kazys Grinius in whose cabinet he remained as a financial, trade and industry minister until February 2, 1922, at the same time assumed the office of the Minister of Transport. During this time he was also a Delegate of Lithuania to the League of Nations in order to help the fledgling Republic of Lithuania by his political and diplomatic skills to more prestige in Europe.

Prime Minister from 1922 to 1924 and annexation of Memel

On 2 February 1922, he took over as the successor of Grinius turn even the Office of the Prime Minister as well as from 29 September 1922 the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In addition, he was effective February 22, 1923 Minister without portfolio. However, the government policy proved increasingly difficult as government and opposition came to an approximately equal number of seats in the Seimas.

After the elections to the Parliament ( Seimas ) of May 1923, he was initially able to form a grand coalition from his peasant people Bund and the Christian Democrats, who had 56 of the 78 seats. On June 18, 1924 he was succeeded by then the former Justice Minister Antanas Tumėnas by the Christian as prime minister. During his tenure as Prime Minister in 1922 Vytautas Magnus University was founded in Kaunas, which was after the League of Nations recognized the de facto annexation of Polish Central Lithuania to the " temporary capital " of Lithuania. In turn annexed Lithuania on 24 March 1923, the Klaipėda Region, the north of the Memel located part of East Prussia with the port city of Memel, now Klaipėda, which had been administered by the League of Nations since the end of the First World War.

To strengthen his government position, especially with regard to the annexation of Memel he sought relations with the United States to expand. In September 1922, he was honored by the publication of a postage stamp.

After his resignation as Prime Minister from 1924 to 1927 he was ambassador in London, where he achieved in 1924 the recognition of this annexation by the previous protective powers.

He then became chairman of the Board of the Port of Klaipėda for a year. He was also a founder of the fellowship for the construction of cheaper workers' dwellings. Later he was rector from 1934 to 1939 of the Commercial Institute Klaipeda. In addition, he was also editor of the newspaper Vakarai.

Occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Red Army and final years

On November 21, 1939, he took over as finance minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Antanas Merkys again a government office. After the occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Red Army, he joined on 14 June 1940 with the government Merkys from his ministerial post back. In 1940 he was also temporarily acting communications minister.

Then he withdrew from politics for some time before 1941, he was founder and chairman of the Lithuanian National Committee ( Lietuvos Tautinis Komitetas ). In 1944 he fled to France and went to some 1946 exiled to Germany, where he became a member of the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania ( Lietuvos Vyriausiasis išlaisvinimo komitetas ). As early as 1947 he was however in Madagascar, where he worked as a lecturer for trade and industry. In 1963 he then took residence in Aix -les- Bains in France, where he died a few years later.

Publications

• Valstija ir mokesčiai ( "State and Tax"), 1909
• Lenkija ir Lietuva ( "Poland and Lithuania " ), 1923
• Atsiminimai, 1925