- Antanas Merkys
Antanas Merkys (pronunciation|Antanas Merkys.ogg; born
February 1 ,1887 in Bajorai, nearSkapiškis ,Vilna Governorate of theRussian Empire ; diedMarch 5 ,1955 inVladimir Oblast ,Soviet Union ) becamePresident ofLithuania in 1940. He was alsoPrime Minister of Lithuania from 1939 to 1940. During the 1940 Soviet invasion of Lithuania, he was captured and deported to theRussian SFSR .Biography
Educated in law, Merkys served in the Russian Army during
World War I (1914–18). In 1919, he served as the newly-independent Lithuania's Minister of Defence before serving with the Lithuanian Army until his decommissioning in 1922. He then practised as a lawyer.After the
Klaipėda Revolt of 1923, Merkys became secretary to theKlaipėda Region Commissioner,Antanas Smetona . Following the coup d'état in 1926 , he became Minister of Defence again until 1927, when he was made Governor of Klaipėda Region.In 1932, German demands prompted his removal as GovernorFact|date=September 2008 and Merkys returned to practising law. He became Mayor of
Kaunas in 1933 and in 1936 was elected to Parliament. OnNovember 17 ,1939 , he became Prime Minister.When, on
12 June 1940 , theSoviet Union presented anultimatum to Lithuania, President Antanas Smetona proposed armed resistance. Merkys suggested accepting the ultimatum and wanted to resign as Prime Minister, but, as a successor could not be agreed with the Soviet Union, he remained at the head of the cabinet. Smetona turned over his presedential duties to Merkys before secretly retreating toGermany and thenSwitzerland .Although unsuccessful, Merkys had complied with Soviet demands that Smetona be apprehended. The day after Smetona's departure, Merkys announced on national radio that he had removed Smetona as President and had assumed the post himself. As this was contrary to the existing law, his presidency remained unrecognised by Lithuanian diplomats.Fact|date=September 2008
On
17 June 1940 , Merkys accepted the Soviet demands, appointingJustas Paleckis as the new Prime Minister and then resigning. He tried to leave Lithuania with his family, but was arrested. A month later, on17 July , he and his family were deported toSaratov , Russia.In 1954, Merkys was released from prison without the right to return to Lithuania. He lived in
Vladimir until his death the following year, on 5 March 1955.References
*lt icon [http://www3.lrs.lt/seimu_istorija/w3_viewer.viewdoc-p_int_tekst_id=3476&p_int_tv_id=282.htm Antanas Merkys]
External links
*lt icon [http://atminimas.kvb.lt/asmenvardis.php?asm=MERKYS%20ANTANAS Short biography]
See also
*
List of Presidents of Lithuania
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