Ingrida Šimonytė facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ingrida Šimonytė MP
Šimonytė in 2019
17th Prime Minister of Lithuania
In office 11 December 2020 – 12 December 2024
President	Gitanas Nausėda
Preceded by	Saulius Skvernelis
Succeeded by	Gintautas Paluckas
Member of the Seimas
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 November 2016
Preceded by	Andrius Kubilius
Constituency	Antakalnis
Deputy Chair of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania
In office 10 July 2013 – 31 October 2016
President	Vitas Vasiliauskas
Preceded by	Darius Petrauskas
Succeeded by	Raimondas Kuodis
Minister of Finance
In office 7 July 2009 – 13 December 2012
Prime Minister	Andrius Kubilius
Preceded by	Algirdas Šemeta
Succeeded by	Rimantas Šadžius
Personal details
Born	(1974-11-15) 15 November 1974 (age 50) Vilnius, Lithuania
Political party	Homeland Union (2022–present) Independent (until 2022)
Alma mater	Vilnius University (BA, MA)
Signature

Ingrida Šimonytė (born 15 November 1974) is a well-known Lithuanian politician and economist. She served as the 17th Prime Minister of Lithuania from 2020 to 2024. The Prime Minister is the head of the government, leading the country's daily operations.

In 2023, Šimonytė decided to run for president again in the 2024 Lithuanian presidential election. She reached the final round but lost to the current president, Gitanas Nausėda.

Her Early Life and School Days

Ingrida Šimonytė was born in Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania, on 15 November 1974. Her father was a civil engineer, and her mother, Danutė Šimonienė, was an economist. When Ingrida was about 10 years old, in 1984, her family moved to the Antakalnis area of Vilnius. This is where she spent most of her childhood.

In 1992, she graduated from Vilnius Žirmūnai Gymnasium. She was very good at math and was even recognized for her skills. After high school, she went to Vilnius University. She studied economics and earned her first degree in business administration in 1996. Two years later, in 1998, she completed her master's degree in economics from the same university.

Her Journey in Politics

Ingrida Šimonytė started her career working as an economist for the government. She worked in the tax division of the Ministry of Finance until 2004. She stayed in this division for several years. In 2009, she was chosen to become the Minister of Finance. Her main job was to help the Lithuanian economy recover after a big economic downturn called the Great Recession.

She left this role in 2012. After that, she became the deputy head of the Bank of Lithuania. She also taught economics at Vilnius University and another university.

Šimonytė returned to active politics in 2016. She ran as an independent candidate in the 2016 Lithuanian parliamentary election. She won a seat in the parliament, called the Seimas, representing the Antakalnis area. In 2018, she announced she would run for president in the 2019 Lithuanian presidential election. She won the first round of the election but came in second in the final round to Gitanas Nausėda.

She was re-elected to Parliament in the 2020 Lithuanian parliamentary election. Her party, the Homeland Union, won the most seats. After the election, she was chosen to be the Prime Minister by a group of parties. She officially became Prime Minister on 11 December 2020. In October 2023, she ran for president again but lost to President Nausėda. Her term as Prime Minister ended in late 2024 after her party lost in the parliamentary election.

About Her Personal Life

Besides her native Lithuanian, Ingrida Šimonytė is also fluent in English, Polish, and Russian. She also knows some Swedish. She is not married and does not have children. One of her favorite books is The Good Soldier Švejk, a funny story by a Czech writer. She has even quoted characters from this book during her political career.

Honours and Awards

Honours

National honours

•  Lithuania: Officer's Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great (2015)

Awards

• „Baltoji banga“ award for 'transparent and accountable activity' (2012)
• Delfi Women of the Year 2019 (Politics) (2019)
• Delfi Women of the Year 2020 (Politics) (2020)

Images for kids

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  Šimonytė at the 2010 Baltic Development Forum in Vilnius.

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  Šimonytė and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal visited the Luhansk Oblast on 11 February 2022.

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  Šimonytė meets with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in July 2023

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  Countries visited by Šimonytė as of November 2021

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  Šimonytė in Ukraine, 11 April 2022

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  Ingrida Šimonytė during meeting of prime ministers of Lublin Triangle in Kyiv, 2022

See also

In Spanish: Ingrida Šimonytė para niños