Irena Degutienė

Irena Degutienė
Prime Minister of Lithuania Acting
In office 27 October 1999 – 3 November 1999
President	Valdas Adamkus
Preceded by	Rolandas Paksas
Succeeded by	Andrius Kubilius
In office 4 May 1999 – 18 May 1999
President	Valdas Adamkus
Preceded by	Gediminas Vagnorius
Succeeded by	Rolandas Paksas
Speaker of the Seimas
In office 15 September 2009 – 14 September 2012
Preceded by	Arūnas Valinskas
Succeeded by	Vydas Gedvilas
Minister for Social Security and Labour
In office 4 December 1996 – 27 October 2000
Prime Minister	Gediminas Vagnorius
Preceded by	Mindaugas Mikaila
Succeeded by	Vilija Blinkevičiūtė
Personal details
Born	1 June 1949 Šiauliai, Soviet Union (now Lithuania)
Political party	Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats
Spouse(s)	Gediminas Degutis
Alma mater	Vilnius University
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Irena Degutienė (born 1 June 1949 in Šiauliai, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union) is a Lithuanian politician and member of the conservative Homeland Union, currently Speaker of Seimas. She was twice the acting Prime Minister of Lithuania, first from 4 May 1999 to 18 May 1999 and then from 27 October 1999 to 3 November 1999. She has also been the Minister for Social Security and Labour from 1996 to 2000. In 1978, she graduated from Vilnius University with a degree in medicine. For almost twenty years, she worked in Vilnius Red Cross Hospital before becoming a secretary in the Ministry of Health in 1994. In 1996, she was elected to Seimas and re-elected in 2000.

On 15 September 2009 Irena Degutienė became Speaker of Seimas, a position she held until 14 September 2012. She is the first woman to hold such position in Lithuania's history.^[1]

References

1. I.Degutienė išrinkta Seimo pirmininke . retrieved on 2009-09-17

• Profile on the Seimas website