Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas

Award

Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas
Breast star of the Order
Type	5 Class Order with associated medal
Awarded for	Outstanding performance in civil and public offices
Presented by	Lithuania
Eligibility	Citizens of Lithuania and foreign nationals
Established	1928 re-established 1991
Precedence
Next (higher)	Order of the Cross of Vytis
Next (lower)	Order for Merits to Lithuania

The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this Order. The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas was instituted in 1928. It features the Columns of Gediminas, one of the national symbols of Lithuania.^[1]

Classes

The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas has five classes:

1. Grand Cross
2. Commander's Grand Cross
3. Commander's Cross
4. Officer's Cross
5. Knight's Cross
6. Medal

Notable recipients

The first five persons awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas after the restoration of the Independent State of Lithuania in 1991 were poets Justinas Marcinkevičius, Bernardas Brazdžionis, priest Ričardas Mikutavičius, painter Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas and mathematician Jonas Kubilius.^[1]

Other notable recipients

Edvard Beneš, Czech politician and President of Czechoslovakia
Elena Bonner, physician, Soviet human rights activist, writer, wife of Andrei Sakharov
Algirdas Budrys, clarinetist
Christopher Cox, former U.S. Representative
Štefan Füle, Czech politician and diplomat^[2]
James L. Jones, retired United States National Security Advisor and Commandant of the Marine Corps
Jacek Kuroń, Polish historian and politician
Ina Marčiulionytė, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of the Republic of Lithuania to UNESCO
George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, tenth Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization^[3]
Mstislav Rostropovich, cellist^[1]
Juan Antonio Samaranch, former President of the International Olympic Committee^[1]
George Soros, philanthropist^[1]
Antanina Vainiūnaitė-Kubertavičienė, Lithuanian actress
Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager, Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Arvydas Každailis, Lithuanian artist

Images of order insignia

1st Class Order
2nd Class Order
3rd Class Order
4th Class Order
5th Class Order
Medal

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas". President of the Republic of Lithuania. Archived from the original on 27 February 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
^ "NATO Biographies: Head of the Czech Delegation to NATO". Nato.int. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
^ "NATO Media Library: - NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas by the Lithuanian President, Rolandas Paksas - 4 Nov. 2003". Nato.int. Retrieved 16 November 2012.