Irena Degutienė

Who is Irena Degutienė?

Irena Degutienė 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 Deputy Minister of Health Care 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.