Liudas_Noreika
Liudas Noreika
Lithuanian politician (1884–1928)
Liudas Noreika (19 August 1884 – 30 May 1928) was a Lithuanian attorney, activist, and politician. He served as the Minister of Justice under three prime ministers in March 1919 – June 1920.
Noreika studied to become a Catholic priest, but lack of calling made him switch to studies of law at Saint Petersburg University. During World War I, he worked with the Lithuanian Society for the Relief of War Sufferers to provide aid to Lithuanian war refugees and was politically active in the Party of National Progress. He was one of the organizers of the Petrograd Seimas in June 1917.
After his return to Lithuania, he was coopted into the Council of Lithuania in November 1918. He left government service in 1920, but continued to be actively involved with the Party of National Progress which merged to form the Lithuanian Nationalist Union in 1924. He was editor of many of the party's periodicals, including Vairas (1914–1915), Tauta (1920) and Lietuvis (1926). He was party's chairman from December 1926 to August 1927 and from February 1928 to his death in May 1928. He was shot and killed after a quarell broke out while playing cards.