Vilnius bids farewell to former prime minister Prunskienė

People in Vilnius are bidding farewell to Kazimira Danutė Prunskienė, a former Lithuanian prime minister and signatory of the Act of Independence, LRT reports. A ceremony is being held at the Church of St Johns on Wednesday, while she will be buried at Antakalnis Cemetery on Thursday.

Wreaths from officials are due to be laid on Wednesday afternoon, followed by Mass at 6 p.m.

Prunskienė died on Thursday at the age of 83. She will be remembered as one of the most prominent politicians of independent Lithuania.

Before entering politics through the Lithuanian Reform Movement, Prunskienė worked at the Vilnius House-Building Combine in 1964 and 1965. After graduating from Vilnius University in 1965, she taught there until 1986.

She also conducted research at universities in Hungary and the Federal Republic of Germany. From 1986 to 1988, she served as deputy director of the Lithuanian Institute of Agricultural Economics, and from 1988 to 1989 she was rector of the Institute for the Professional Development of Managers and Specialists of the National Economy.

Prunskienė belonged to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1980 to 1989. From 1989 to 1990, she was a member of the independent Communist Party of Lithuania, its central committee and its bureau.

She was elected to the Supreme Council-Reconstituent Seimas in 1990 and served as Lithuania’s first prime minister from 1990 to 1991.

Prunskienė was one of the founders of the Women’s Party, which later changed its name and merged with the Farmers’ Party. During her leadership, Ramūnas Karbauskis became its deputy chairman, and the political force eventually became the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union.

Prunskienė also served as agriculture minister. In 2004, she sought to become Lithuania’s first woman president, reached the second round and won 46.66% of the vote, losing to Valdas Adamkus. She also unsuccessfully stood in the 2009 election.

Prunskienė left politics in 2012 after suffering a stroke and undergoing brain surgery. Her health prevented her from returning to public life or commenting on events after rehabilitation, and her family cared for her.