Jump to content

Vladas Niunka

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vladas Niunka
Born(1907-08-17)17 August 1907
Baisogala,Russian Empire
Died26 December 1983(1983-12-26)(aged 76)
Vilnius,Lithuanian SSR
Burial placeAntakalnis Cemetery
Alma materVytautas Magnus University
Occupation(s)Newspaper editor, communist propagandist and politician, university professor
Political partyCommunist Party of Lithuania
AwardsOrder of Lenin
Order of the October Revolution
Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Order of the Patriotic War
Order of the Badge of Honour

Vladas Niunka(17 August 1907 – 26 December 1983) was aLithuaniancommunist politician and publicist. He joined then-illegalCommunist Party of Lithuania(CPL) in 1928.[1]For his communist activities, he was arrested seven times by the Lithuanian police and spent about five years in prisons. He edited and published several communist newspapers, includingTiesa,Propagandistas,Komunistas.He was a long-term member of theCentral Committeeof CPL (1938–1983) as well as deputy (1947–1983) and chairman (1955–1963) of theSupreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR.[1]During World War II and in 1948–1961, Niunka was secretary of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of CPL. He dedicated the last two decades of his life to academic work researching anti-communist policies and activities of theCatholic Church.He became a member of theLithuanian Academy of Sciencesand aCandidate of Sciences.

Education[edit]

Niunka was born inBaisogalato a family of a postal worker and seamstress.[2]In 1919, he enrolled at theŠiauliai Gymnasiumand graduated in 1925. He continued his studies at theUniversity of Kaunas.Due to financial difficulties, he could not attend classes in Kaunas and instead tookcorrespondence coursesin law while working as a teacher inŠiauliai.[2]In 1925–1928, he taughtLithuanian languageat a high school. Due to frequent arrests and imprisonments, he obtained the law diploma only in 1939.[3]

Independent Lithuania[edit]

While visitingKaunas,he became interested in communism. At the time, theCommunist Party of Lithuania(CPL) and its press were outlawed in Lithuania. Niunka was arrested in April 1927 for the possession of an illegal communist newspaper.[3]That time he was released, but became a person of interest to the Lithuanian intelligence. In May 1928, Niunka took a more active role in the communist underground – he wrote articles to communist newspapers[4]and helped smuggling communist publications from Kaunas to Šiauliai. For that he was arrested in November 1928 and sentenced to imprisonment at theVarniai concentration camp.[3]There were many other communists at the camp and they organized self-education in communist theory. The camp was closed bringing Niunka's release in October 1931.[4]

Niunka returned to Šiauliai and took up private lessons. He became a leader of the regional communist section. He was arrested in February 1933 and sentenced to three months inŠiauliai Prison.[4]Upon release, Niunka moved to Kaunas where he joined Kaunas district communist committee and edited its newspaperRevoliucinis darbininkas.[4]He was arrested again in August 1935 (one-month imprisonment) and July 1936 (two-month imprisonment).[5]

Antanas Sniečkusreturned to Lithuania in 1936 and began looking for new people to fill leadership positions within the CPL. Niunka was co-opted to theCentral Committeeof CPL in mid-1937.[6]He also editedTiesaand publishedPropagandistasfor political education of the party. He was tasked with approaching left-wing activists (social-democrats and others) about creating a unifiedpopular front.He published newspapersLiaudies frontasandAntifašistasaimed at this, but ultimately he was not successful.[7]He was arrested in May 1938 and imprisoned for nine months inDimitravas forced labor camp.He was arrested again in July 1939 and sent for a year to the same camp in Dimitravas.[8]

World War II[edit]

On 15 June 1940,Lithuania was occupiedby theSoviet Union.Niunka was freed on 18 June and appointed editor ofTiesa(then known asLiaudies balsas).[8]He was involved in the show elections to thePeople's Seimas:helped draft the new election law and became chairman of the electoral commission.[9]Niunka was given only 12 hours to prepare the law which allowed only one candidate per seat.[9]He helped to falsify the election results.[10]From August 1940 to May 1944, he was the chief prosecutor of theLithuanian SSR.[11]

WhenNazi Germany invaded in June 1941,Niunka evacuated toMoscow.There he joined the propaganda section of the CPL and worked publishing communist press.[12]In April 1944, he became the second secretary of CPL but was quickly dismissed byMikhail Suslovfor "softness".[13]Niunka was elected to thePolitburoof CPL in August 1944.[14]

Soviet Lithuania[edit]

Niunka was a deputy chairman of theCouncil of Ministers of the Lithuanian SSRfrom January 1945 to November 1948.[14]In April–November 1948, he was also Minister of Education. He moved on to become secretary of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of CPL until 1961. In this capacity, he chaired a commission on the translation and publication of collected works ofVladimir Lenin(35 volumes) and other fundamental works ofMarxism–Leninism.[15]He supportedsovietizationand suppression of the Lithuanian culture and theCatholic Church.[1]He advocated to prohibitLithuanian deporteesfrom returning to Lithuania.[16]At the same time, he was a deputy of theSupreme Soviet of the Soviet Union(1946–1962) as well as of theSupreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR(1947–1983) and was its chairman from 1955 to 1963 –de jureequivalent to thespeaker.[1]From June 1953 to February 1954, he was also the second secretary of CPL (for the second time).[17]

In 1961, Niunka left the Politburo and the Propaganda and Agitation Department, but remained a member of the Central Committee of CPL. He devoted his time to the academic work. He taught asdocentatVilnius University(1946–1950 and 1961–1968) and edited theoretical journalKomunistas(1961–1970).[18]In 1962, he became a corresponding member of theLithuanian Academy of Sciences(admitted as true member in 1976).[19]His research, published as six separate books in 1963–1980, centered on politics of the Catholic Church. In 1971, he defended his theses to become aCandidate of Sciencesbut did not complete all the requirements for theDoctor of Sciences.[20]In total, Niunka published 11 books and about 400 articles during his lifetime.[21]

He was awardedOrder of Lenin(twice),Order of the October Revolution,Order of the Red Banner of Labour(twice),Order of the Patriotic War2nd class,Order of the Badge of Honour.[22]

Niunka died inVilniusin 1983 and was buried inAntakalnis Cemetery.[22]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdTininis 2009
  2. ^abŠarmaitis 1988,p. 257
  3. ^abcŠarmaitis 1988,p. 258
  4. ^abcdŠarmaitis 1988,p. 259
  5. ^Šarmaitis 1988,p. 261
  6. ^Šarmaitis 1988,pp. 261–262
  7. ^Šarmaitis 1988,p. 262
  8. ^abŠarmaitis 1988,p. 263
  9. ^abSenn 2007,pp. 206–207
  10. ^Senn 2007,p. 221
  11. ^Šarmaitis 1988,p. 264
  12. ^Šarmaitis 1988,p. 265
  13. ^Tininis 2000,p. 69
  14. ^abŠarmaitis 1988,p. 266
  15. ^Šarmaitis 1988,p. 267
  16. ^Tininis 2000,p. 140
  17. ^Šarmaitis 1988,pp. 266–267
  18. ^Šarmaitis 1988,pp. 266, 268
  19. ^Šarmaitis 1988,pp. 269, 271
  20. ^Šarmaitis 1988,p. 269
  21. ^Šarmaitis 1988,pp. 271–272
  22. ^abŠarmaitis 1988,p. 271

Bibliography[edit]

  • Šarmaitis, Romas (1988).Lietuvos revoliucionieriai(PDF)(in Lithuanian). Mintis.ISBN5-417-00071-X.
  • Senn, Alfred Erich (2007).Lithuania 1940: Revolution from Above.On the Boundary of Two Worlds. Identity, Freedom, and Moral Imagination of the Baltics. Rodopi.ISBN978-90-420-2225-6.
  • Tininis, Vytautas (2000).Sniečkus. 33 metai valdžioje. Antano Sniečkaus biografinė apybraiža(in Lithuanian) (2nd ed.). Karminas.ISBN9986-9231-4-X.
  • Tininis, Vytautas (2009-12-02)."Niùnka".Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija(in Lithuanian). Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vladas_Niunka&oldid=1182559471"