Communist Party of Lithuania

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Former Central Committee office of the Lithuanian Communist Party

The Communist Party of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos komunistų partija; Russian: Коммунистическая партия Литвы) is a communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clandestinely until it was legalized by Soviet authorities in 1940. The party was banned in August 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of the Lithuanian SSR.

History[]

The party was working illegally until 1940. During the same year, the party amalgamated with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks). By the time of the formation of the Lithuanian SSR, the Communist Party of Lithuania (LKP) was headed by Antanas Sniečkus. In 1940, the LKP merged into the CPSU(b). The territorial organisation of the party in Lithuania was called Communist Party of Lithuania (bolshevik) (LK(b)P). In the Lithuanian territorial organisation, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the party (always a Lithuanian) was de facto governor of the country. The second secretary was always a Moscow-appointed Russian. In 1952 the name of the old Lithuanian party, LKP, was re-adopted.

On 24 December 1989,^[1] during mass protests of the Singing Revolution against the Soviet Union in Lithuania, the party declared itself independent from Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1990, the Communist Party of Lithuania evolved into the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, which in turn was later merged with Social Democratic Party of Lithuania under the latter's name; but with leadership dominated by ex-communists.

The remainder of the Communist Party of Lithuania ('on platform of Communist Party of the Soviet Union') existed in 1990–91 under leadership of Mykolas Burokevičius after the "traditional" party declared independence from its Soviet Union counterpart. The party played a major role in the January 1991 Events in Lithuania and initiating the creation of the National Salvation Committee. The Communist Party of Lithuania was eventually banned on 23 August 1991.^[2] The party remains illegal in Lithuania, and is affiliated with the Union of Communist Parties — Communist Party of the Soviet Union (UCP-CPSU) headed by Gennady Zyuganov.

First Secretaries of the Communist Party of Lithuania[]

Antanas Sniečkus, the leader of the Communist Party of Lithuania from 1940 to 1974.^[3]

No.	Picture	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Political party
First Secretary
1		Antanas Sniečkus (1903–1974)	21 July 1940	22 January 1974	CPL/CPSU
—		acting (1918–2013)	22 January 1974	18 February 1974	CPL/CPSU
2		Petras Griškevičius (1924–1987)	18 February 1974	14 November 1987	CPL/CPSU
—		acting (1929–1998)	14 November 1987	1 December 1987	CPL/CPSU
3		Ringaudas Songaila (1929–2019)	1 December 1987	19 October 1988	CPL/CPSU
4		Algirdas Brazauskas (1932–2010)	19 October 1988	23 December 1989	CPL/CPSU
			23 December 1989	8 December 1990	CPL (independent)
"Leading role" of the party abolished 7 December 1989
First Secretary (of pro-Moscow breakaway faction)
5		Mykolas Burokevičius (1927–2016)	23 December 1989	23 August 1991	CPL/CPSU

Second Secretaries of the Communist Party of Lithuania[]

• Icikas Meskupas-Adomas 9 February 1941 – 13 March 1942
• Vladas Niunka April 1944 – 30 December 1944
• 30 December 1944 – 24 November 1946
• 24 November 1946 – 22 September 1952
• 25 September 1952 – 11 June 1953
• Motiejus Šumauskas February 1954 – 24 January 1956
• Boris Sharkov 28 January 1956 – 27 September 1961
• Boris Popov 30 September 1961 – 13 April 1967
• 13 April 1967 – 10 December 1978
• 11 December 1978 – 17 September 1986
• 17 September 1986 – 9 December 1988
• 9 December 1988 – 1990

Congresses of the Communist Party of Lithuania[]

See also[]

• Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Lithuania and Belorussia

References[]