{"id":"antanas-smetona","type":"person","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/antanas-smetona","language":"en","name":"Antanas Smetona","name_en":"Antanas Smetona","name_ne":null,"description":"First President of Lithuania from 4 April 1919 until 19 June 1920 (1874-1944)","headline":"First President of Lithuania from 4 April 1919 until 19 June 1920 (1874-1944)","also_known_as":[],"summary":"Antanas Smetona was a Lithuanian intellectual, journalist, and politician. He served as the first president of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and later as the authoritarian head of state from 1926 until the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940. Referred to as the \"Leader of the Nation\" during his presidency, Smetona is recognised as one of the most important Lithuanian political figures between World War I and World War II, and a prominent ideologist of Lithuanian nationalism and the movement for national revival.","summary_more":[],"facts":[{"key":"born","label":"Born","values":[{"text":"10 August 1874","date":"1874-08-10"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q296950#P569"}},{"key":"birthplace","label":"Place of birth","values":[{"text":"Užulėnis","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12675915"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q296950#P19"}},{"key":"died","label":"Died","values":[{"text":"9 January 1944","date":"1944-01-09"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q296950#P570"}},{"key":"deathplace","label":"Place of death","values":[{"text":"Cleveland","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37320"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q296950#P20"}},{"key":"citizenship","label":"Citizenship","values":[{"text":"Russian Empire","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34266"},{"text":"Lithuania","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q296950#P27"}},{"key":"occupation","label":"Occupation","values":[{"text":"politician","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q82955"},{"text":"writer","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q36180"},{"text":"pedagogue","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1231865"},{"text":"lawyer","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q40348"},{"text":"journalist","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1930187"},{"text":"editor","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1607826"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q296950#P106"}},{"key":"party","label":"Political party","values":[{"text":"Lithuanian Nationalist and Republican Union","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1819977"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q296950#P102"}},{"key":"education","label":"Education","values":[{"text":"LMU Munich","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55044"},{"text":"Saint Petersburg State University","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q27621"},{"text":"Academia Petrina","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3494679"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q296950#P69"}},{"key":"spouse","label":"Spouse","values":[{"text":"Sofija Smetonienė","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9339147"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q296950#P26"}},{"key":"positions","label":"Positions held","values":[{"text":"President of the Republic of Lithuania (19 December 1926 – 15 June 1940)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q878222","start":"1926-12-19","end":"1940-06-15"},{"text":"President of the Republic of Lithuania (4 April 1919 – 19 April 1920)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q878222","start":"1919-04-04","end":"1920-04-19"},{"text":"president","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1255921"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q296950#P39"}},{"key":"awards","label":"Awards","values":[{"text":"Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10855226"},{"text":"Order of the Three Stars, 1st Class","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q22303941"},{"text":"Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10993583"},{"text":"Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Vytis","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23775638"},{"text":"Grand Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20894903"},{"text":"Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14900501"},{"text":"Order of the White Star, Collar Class","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23301869"},{"text":"Grand cross of the Order of the White Lion","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20966518"},{"text":"Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20888823"},{"text":"1st Class of the Order of the Cross of the Eagle","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q58211188"},{"text":"Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX‎","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23306205"},{"text":"Doctor Honoris Causa at the Vytautas Magnus University","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16156933"},{"text":"Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23769799","date":"1932-01-22"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q296950#P166"}}],"office":null,"sections":[],"cited":[],"cited_from":null,"videos":[],"last_reviewed":null,"organizations":[],"same_as":["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antanas_Smetona","https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q296950"],"faq":[{"q":"When was Antanas Smetona born?","a":"Antanas Smetona was born on 10 August 1874 in Užulėnis."},{"q":"What positions has Antanas Smetona held?","a":"Positions held by Antanas Smetona include: President of the Republic of Lithuania (1926–1940); President of the Republic of Lithuania (1919–1920); president."},{"q":"Where did Antanas Smetona study?","a":"Antanas Smetona was educated at LMU Munich, Saint Petersburg State University, Academia Petrina."}],"related":[{"name":"Dalia Grybauskaitė","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/dalia-grybauskaite"},{"name":"Valdas Adamkus","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/valdas-adamkus"},{"name":"Algirdas Brazauskas","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/algirdas-brazauskas"},{"name":"Rolandas Paksas","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/rolandas-paksas"},{"name":"Jonas Staugaitis","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/jonas-staugaitis"},{"name":"Antanas Merkys","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/antanas-merkys"},{"name":"Donald Trump","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/donald-trump"},{"name":"Ronald Reagan","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/ronald-reagan"},{"name":"Abraham Lincoln","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/abraham-lincoln"},{"name":"George W. Bush","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/george-w-bush"},{"name":"Mustafa Kemal Atatürk","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/mustafa-kemal-ataturk"},{"name":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/franklin-d-roosevelt"}],"places_in":[],"nearby":[],"image":{"url":"https://diginpl.com/kb-img/antanas-smetona-3e9b6b751a.jpg","width":500,"height":766,"license":"CC BY-SA 2.5","credit":"Owned by the National Museum of Lithuania","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antanas_Smetona_2.jpg"},"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia (English): Antanas Smetona","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antanas_Smetona","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"},{"label":"Wikidata item Q296950","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q296950","license":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},{"label":"Image: Antanas Smetona 2.jpg by Owned by the National Museum of Lithuania (CC BY-SA 2.5)","url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antanas_Smetona_2.jpg","license":null}],"license":{"text":"CC BY-SA 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","facts":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},"attribution":"Text from the Wikipedia article Antanas Smetona, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Antanas Smetona 2.jpg — Owned by the National Museum of Lithuania, CC BY-SA 2.5.","cite":"\"Antanas Smetona\". DigiNepal. Last updated 8 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/antanas-smetona. Retrieved 8 November 2026.","date_modified":"2026-11-08T07:57:59Z","facts_checked":"2026-11-08","alternates":{"html":"https://diginpl.com/people/antanas-smetona","en":"https://diginpl.com/people/antanas-smetona","ne":null}}