Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė
{{Short description|Lithuanian politician (born 1984)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė
| image = File: Radvile Morkunaite by Augustas Didzgalvis (cropped).jpg
| order = Deputy Speaker of the Seimas
| term_start = 14 November 2024
| term_end =
| term_start2 = 17 November 2020
| term_end2 = 27 June 2024
| predecessor2 = Gediminas Kirkilas
| successor2 = Žygimantas Pavilionis
| order3 = Minister of Education, Science and Sports
| term_start3 = 27 June 2024
| term_end3 = 14 November 2024
| primeminister3 = Ingrida Šimonytė
| predecessor3 = Gintautas Jakštas
| successor3 = Gintarė Skaistė {{small|(interim)}}
| order8 = Chairwoman of Homeland Union
| status8 = Acting
| term_start8 = 28 October 2024
| term_end8 = 15 March 2025
| predecessor8 = Gabrielius Landsbergis
| successor8 = Laurynas Kasčiūnas
| order11 = Deputy Chairperson of the Homeland Union
| chairman12 = Gabrielius Landsbergis
| term_start12 = 25 April 2015
| term_end12 = 26 September 2021
| chairman11 = Laurynas Kasčiūnas
| term_start11 = 15 March 2025
| term_end11 =
| order13 = Member of the European Parliament
| term_start13 = 14 July 2009
| term_end13 = 30 June 2014
| constituency13 = Lithuania
| order4 = Member of the Seimas
| term_start4 = 14 November 2024
| term_end4 =
| constituency4 = Mulit-member
| term_start5 = 13 November 2020
| term_end5 = 14 November 2024
| constituency5 = Pilaitė–Karoliniškės
| predecessor6 = Saulius Skvernelis
| successor6 = Vytautas Sinica
| term_start7 = 14 November 2016
| term_end7 = 12 November 2020
| constituency7 = Mulit-member
| order10 = First Deputy Chairperson of the Homeland Union
| chairman10 = Gabrielius Landsbergis
| term_start10 = 26 September 2021
| term_end10 = 15 March 2025
| predecessor10 = Irena Degutienė
| successor10 = Paulius Saudargas
| birth_name = Radvilė Morkūnaitė
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1984|1|2|df=y}}
| birth_place = Kaunas, Lithuania
| party = Homeland Union
| spouse = Mindaugas Mikulėnas
| children = 2
| alma_mater = Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre
Vilnius Academy of Arts
| religion =
| caption = Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė in 2023
}}
Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė (née Morkūnaitė; born 2 January 1984) is a Lithuanian politician and the incumbent Deputy Speaker of the Seimas and Deputy Chairwoman of the Homeland Union. She has served as a Member of the Seimas since 2016, and has additionally served as Deputy Speaker of the Seimas, Minister of Education, Science and Sports, First Deputy Chairwoman of the Homeland Union and as acting chairwoman of Homeland Union since 28 October 2024 until 15 March 2025.
Background
Morkūnaitė was born in 1984 in Kaunas, to an ethnographer family.{{cite web |title=Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė |url=https://www.vrk.lt/statiniai/puslapiai/rinkimai/448_lt/Kandidatai/Kandidatas87326/Kandidato87326Biografija.html |website=Central Electoral Commission of Lithuania |language=lt |date=2015}} Her father Eligijus Morkūnas was a member of Sąjūdis and a long-time employee of the open-air ethnographic museum in Rumšiškės, awarded with the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania in 2023.{{cite web |title=Mirė etnologas, ilgametis muziejininkas Eligijus Juvencijus Morkūnas |url=https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/lietuvoje/2/2080848/mire-etnologas-ilgametis-muziejininkas-eligijus-juvencijus-morkunas |website=LRT |language=lt |date=19 September 2023}} Her great-grandfather Antanas Morkūnas was the burgomaster of Kėdainiai from 1924 to 1927 and belonged to a notable local family.{{cite web |last1=Navickas |first1=Artūras |title=Buvusio burmistro namas keliasi naujam gyvenimui |url=https://www.knypava.lt/2012/10/22/buvusio-burmistro-namas-keliasi-naujam-gyvenimui/ |website=Knypava |language=lt |date=22 October 2012}}
Morkūnaitė graduated from the Juozas Naujalis Music Gymnasium in 2002 and obtained a bachelor's degree in piano performance at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in 2006. In 2008, she obtained a master's degree in cultural management and cultural policy at the UNESCO Department of the Vilnius Academy of Arts. She has been a member of the youth organization Young Conservative League since 2002 and served as its chairwoman from 2006 to 2007.{{cite web |title=Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/radvile-morkunaite-mikuleniene/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |language=lt}}
Political career
She was elected to the European Parliament as a member of the Homeland Union in the 2009 European Parliament election and remained until 2014. She was a member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.{{cite web |title=Radvilė MORKŪNAITĖ-MIKULĖNIENĖ |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/96695/RADVILE_MORKUNAITE-MIKULENIENE/history/7 |website=European Parliament}}
She endorsed Gabrielius Landsbergis in the 2015 Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats leadership election.{{cite web |last1=Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė |first1=Radvilė |title=Kodėl mane motyvuoja Gabrielius Landsbergis? |url=https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/nuomones/radvile-morkunaite-mikuleniene-kodel-mane-motyvuoja-gabrielius-landsbergis-18-496558 |website=15min.lt |language=lt |date=13 April 2015}} After his victory, she was appointed vice chairwoman of the Homeland Union. Since 2021, she has been First Vice Chairwoman of the party.
She ran as the Homeland Union candidate in the 2015 by-election in the Žirmūnai constituency, but lost to Liberal Movement candidate Šarūnas Gustainis in the second round.{{cite web |title=2015 m. rinkimai į Lietuvos Respublikos Seimą |url=https://www.vrk.lt/statiniai/puslapiai/2015_seimo_rinkimai/output_lt/rezultatai_vienmand_apygardose2/rezultatai_vienmanate_apygarda7867aktyvumasdesc2turas.html |website=Central Electoral Commission of Lithuania |language=lt |date=23 March 2015}} She was elected to the Seimas in the 2016 parliamentary election as a member of the Homeland Union electoral list.{{cite web |title=Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė |url=https://www.vrk.lt/2016-seimo/rezultatai?srcUrl=/rinkimai/102/rnk426/kandidatai/lrsKandidatasAnketa_rkndId-1104082.html |website=Central Electoral Commission of Lithuania |language=lt |date=2016}} In the 2020 parliamentary election, she defeated outgoing Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis in the Pilaitė–Karoliniškės constituency with a wide margin.{{cite web |title=2020 m. spalio 25 d. Lietuvos Respublikos Seimo rinkimai (II turas) |url=https://www.vrk.lt/2020-seimo/rezultatai?srcUrl=/rinkimai/1104/2/1744/rezultatai/lt/rezultataiVienmRpg_rpgId-20904.html |website=Central Electoral Commission of Lithuania |language=lt |date=31 October 2020}} She supports the legalization of same-sex unions in Lithuania.{{cite web |title=R. Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė neigia, kad jau kitą antradienį bus svarstomas Partnerystės įstatymas |url=https://www.jarmo.net/2022/05/r-morkunaite-mikuleniene-neigia-kad-jau.html |website=jarmo |language=lt |date=11 May 2022}}
Since 2020, until becoming minister, she was the chair of the Homeland Union parliamentary group, as well as Deputy Speaker of the Seimas and chair of the European Affairs Committee.{{cite web |last1=Jaruševičiūtė-Mockuvienė |first1=Gailė |title=KONSERVATORIAI PRADĖJO IEŠKOTI NAUJO FRAKCIJOS SENIŪNO, KURIS PAKEISTŲ R. MORKŪNAITĘ-MIKULĖNIENĘ |url=https://m.kauno.diena.lt/naujienos/lietuva/politika/konservatoriai-pradejo-ieskoti-naujo-frakcijos-seniuno-kuris-pakeistu-r-morkunaite-mikuleniene-1180072 |website=Kauno diena |language=lt |date=21 June 2024}} On 27 June 2024, Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė was appointed as the new Minister of Education, Science and Sports, replacing Gintautas Jakštas, who had resigned in April over failed reforms to the education system, particularly the implementation of intermediary examination, which has been plagued by a number of setbacks and technical issues.{{cite web |title=Lithuanian president appoints new ministers for education and social security |url=https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2306369/lithuanian-president-appoints-new-ministers-for-education-and-social-security |website=LRT |date=27 June 2024}}{{cite web |title=Lithuanian education minister quits over flawed school examination system |url=https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2245389/lithuanian-education-minister-quits-over-flawed-school-examination-system |website=LRT |date=9 April 2024}}
Personal life
Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė is the chairwoman of the Freedom Fighters Remembrance Association "Neužmiršk" (English: Do Not Forget).{{cite web |last1=Antanavičius |first1=Ugnius |title=Naujojo Seimo nariai: kas jie tokie? |url=https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/lietuvoje/2/152141/naujojo-seimo-nariai-kas-jie-tokie |website=LRT |language=lt |date=24 October 2016}} She was one of the initiators of "Green Code" in 2010, a visual arts contest on promoting ecology and environmental responsibility.{{cite web |title=Vilniaus gatvėse – socialinės „Žaliojo kodo“ reklamos |url=https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/lietuva/vilniaus-gatvese-socialines-zaliojo-kodo-reklamos-56-102333 |website=15min.lt |language=lt |date=7 June 2010}}
She is married and has two children. Besides her native Lithuanian, she speaks English, Italian and Russian.
References
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Category:Politicians from Kaunas
Category:MEPs for Lithuania 2009–2014
Category:Women MEPs for Lithuania
Category:Women members of the Seimas
Category:European People's Party politicians
Category:Homeland Union politicians
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{{s-par|lt}}
{{s-bef|before=Saulius Skvernelis (Karoliniškės)}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the Seimas for Pilaitė and Karoliniškės|years=2020–2024}}
{{s-aft|after= Vytautas Sinica}}
{{s-end}}