Mečislovas Gedvilas (19 October 1901 – 15 February 1981) was a Lithuanian Communist politician who collaborated with occupying Soviet forces. He served as the first Prime Minister of the Lithuanian SSR from 1940 to 1956. Rivalry between him and Antanas Sniečkus, the first secretary of the Lithuanian Communist Party, led to his demotion to Minister of Education (1957–1973). Early life and career Born at Bubiai in Kovno Governorate in 1901, Gedvilas and his family were deported to Russia for violation of the Lithuanian press ban in 1904. At first they moved to Rybinsk and then to Pavlovsk near Saint Petersburg. Gedvilas studied at the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology from 1919 to 1922. After returning to Lithuania he worked as a teacher of algebra, geometry, bookkeeping in Palanga (1923–1927) but was dismissed for not having any pedagogical education or qualifications. He supported left-wing political organizations and publications. In 1926, he joined the Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union but quickly became disappointed by its conservatism and left it in 1931. After the Tauragė Revolt in September 1927, Gedvilas was sent to the Varniai concentration camp for two months even though he was not involved in the revolt. After his release from Varniai, Gedvilas settled in Telšiai and worked as editor of several newspapers, including Žemaitis, Žibintas, Darbo žemaitis, that were critical of the authoritarian regime of Antanas Smetona. For these activities he was briefly jailed several times. In 1931, Gedvilas was elected to the board of the state patient fund in Telšiai and worked as its director until 1940. Troubles with the law enforcement brought Gedvilas closer to the communist activists. In 1934, he joined the Communist Party of Lithuania. The same year, he was elected to the Telšiai city council. He was a board member of the Freethinkers' Society of Ethical Culture. In Soviet Lithuania After the Soviet ultimatum in June 1940, Gedvilas became Minister of Internal Affairs in the People's Government and was elected to the People's Seimas where he became the first vice-chairman. He helped to transition Lithuania into the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, thus legitimizing the Soviet occupation. Gedvilas served as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Lithuania (in 1946 renamed to the Council of Ministers) from 25 August 1940 to 16 January 1956 (position equivalent to Prime Minister). In this capacity he supervised Sovietization of Lithuania and signed off on persecution orders, including the