Vida Marija Čigriejienė (born 4 October 1936) is Čigriejienėa 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.
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.
Early life and education
Vida Marija Šapokaitė was born on 4 October 1936 in Alytus, Lithuania. Her father was a primary school principal and her mother was a primary school teacher in Alytus. Her uncle was the Lithuanian historian Adolfas Šapoka. In 1940, the Soviet Union began an occupation of the Baltic states. One year later, when she was four years old, Šapokaitė's father underwent an operation on his leg in Kaunas. While he was absent from the home, armed men came to their house on 14 June 1941, and took Šapokaitė, her mother and her younger sister in a forced exile. They were marched with a group of thirty-two people to Barnaul in the Altai Mountains, where they camped until winter. Because of the cold, and sickness, in November, the group was moved to Yuzhny. Although there was little food or warm clothing, there was a kindergarten and primary school in the camp in which the children were allowed to study in Lithuanian. Although their forced exile ended on 9 June 1947, Šapokaitė's mother remained in captivity for another seven months.
Returning to Lithuania in 1948, Šapokaitė attended secondary school in Utena and in 1955, enrolled in medical school at the Kaunas Medical Institute, graduating in 1961. After her marriage to Eugenijus Čigriejus, she had three children – Laima, Petras, Saulius – and began using her husband's surname.
Career
Medicine (1961–2004) Upon graduating, Čigriejienė worked in the gynaecology and obstetrics department at the district hospital in Kybartai for five years. Then she worked at the Central Hospital of Vilkaviškis until 1967, when she began working at the Republican Clinical Hospital in Kaunas and studying for her candidate's degree. She defended her thesis, (Changes in Acid-Base Balance, Glycogen and Peroxidase Activity in the Blood of Fetuses and Newborns during Cesarean Section) at Kaunas Medical Institute in 1972. She worked 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. After completing her habilitation on premature birth in 1999, Čigriejienė became a full professor at the newly named Kaunas Medical University and head of its gynecologic oncology department.