Lithuania Celebrities FDC

Lithuania FDC
Name: Famous People
Date of Issue: 17 January 2009

Denominations:
1,35 Lt: Jonas Žemaitis-Vytautas (1909-1954)
Jonas Žemaitis-Vytautas (March 15, 1909 in Palanga - November 26, 1954 in Moscow). One of the leaders of the post-war anti-Soviet armed resistance. He tried to centralise the armed underground forces throughout the Lithuania and form general leadership for partisans. In February 1949 he summoned a congress of the leaders of Lithuanian partisans and established a united resistance organisation - the Lithuanian Movement for Freedom (LMF). He was elected the Chair of Presidium of the LMF Council. Under this leadership, the main documents of the LMF were prepared (the political declaration of the LMF Council provided that the Council was the supreme political body of the nation leading its political and military struggle of resistance and striving for re-establishment of independent and democratic Republic of Lithuania). He contributed much in preparation and realization of the strategy and tactics of partisan fights, and in the re-establishment of the destroyed organizational structures of the LMF. J. Žemaitis was conferred the highest, General's, military rank. He was taken prisoner by the KGB, sentenced and shot in Butyrik Prison in Moscow.

2 Lt: Vaclovas Biržiška (1884-1956)
Vaclovas Biržiška (December 2, 1884 – January 3, 1956) was a Lithuanian attorney, bibliographer, and educator.

He was a member of a notable Lithuanian family; his great-grandfather Mykolas Biržiška was a representative in the Sejm when the Constitution of May 3 was accepted in 1791; his grandfather Leonardas Biržiška was an active participant in the November Uprising; and his brothers, Mykolas Biržiška and Viktoras Biržiška, were also leaders of the Lithuanian community. His father, the physician Antanas Biržiška, declined a professorship at the University of Moscow to practice medicine in the rural areas of Lithuania. More...

2,15 Lt: Mečislovas Reinys (1884-1953)
Mečislovas Reinys (1884 - 1953) was the Lithuanian Roman Catholic archbishop of the Vilnius, Minsk and Tiddi dioceses, a professor at Vytautas Magnus University, a Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a social activist who publicly condemned racism and national hatred. Mečislovas Reinys was imprisoned by the Soviets after refusing to collaborate with the KGB and sent to Vladimir prison, where he died in 1953. More...

2008 Lithuania Famous People FDC
2009 Lithuania Famous People FDC