Vida Marija Čigriejienė
Lithuanian physician and politician / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vida Marija Čigriejienė (born 4 October 1936) is a Lithuanian physician, politician and professor. Born to teachers in Alytus, in 1941, she was deported along with her mother and sister to the Altai Krai region of the Soviet Union, where they lived in forced exile until 1948. Returning to Lithuania, she completed her education at Kaunas Medical Institute, in 1961. She served as a physician at the district hospital in Kybartai for five years, then at the Central Hospital of Vilkaviškis and the Republican Clinical Hospital in Kaunas. After obtaining her candidate of sciences degree in 1972, she taught and practiced at the Kaunas Medical Institute, becoming a docent in 1982, deputy chief physician of obstetrics and gynecology in 1989, and head of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic in 1991, and a full professor and head of its gynecologic oncology department in 1999. She wrote numerous textbooks and publications during her academic career.
Vida Marija Čigriejienė | |
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Born | Vida Marija Šapokaitė (1936-10-04) 4 October 1936 (age 87) Alytus, Lithuania |
Other names | Vida Marija Čigriejienė-Šapokaitė, Vida Marija Šapokaitė-Čigriejienė |
Occupation(s) | Physician, professor, politician |
Years active | 1961–2016 |
Relatives | Adolfas Šapoka (uncle) |
In 2004, Čigriejienė entered politics and joined the conservative Homeland Union, representing the Panemunės district. Re-elected in both 2008 and 2012, she served in the Seimas through 2016. As the oldest elected member of the legislature, she served as the head of the government in both 2008 and 2012 until a prime minister was confirmed. Throughout her tenure, she served on the Committee on Health Affairs and proposed legislation often related to health issues, such as limits on sales of cigarettes and alcohol. She supported legislation for assisted reproduction, abortion, and biomedical research, but opposed gender-affirming surgery and home births. She also opposed reducing pensions and curtailing maternity and paternity leave provisions. In 2016, she broke with the conservative alliance and unsuccessfully ran as an independent for re-election. The following year, she was recognized for her service to Kaunas and Lithuania with the Santaka Medal of Kaunas in the third degree.