[2] Born into a farming family in the village of Užulėnis, Kovno Governorate, Smetona exhibited a strong interest in education and Lithuanian cultural identity from an early age.

He pursued higher education at the Saint Petersburg Imperial University, where he studied law and became involved in nationalist and cultural movements.

After completing his studies, he worked as a teacher and journalist, eventually becoming one of the key intellectual leaders of the Lithuanian National Revival.

During the interwar period, Smetona emerged as a prominent political figure, serving as the first President and later taking power in a coup d'état in 1926.

Under his leadership, Lithuania pursued a policy of neutrality and underwent significant economic and cultural development, despite the challenges posed by regional instability and the rise of authoritarian regimes in Europe.

After the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania in 1940, Smetona fled to Germany and later to the United States, where he lived in exile until his death in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1944.

While some view him as a pivotal figure in the establishment of Lithuanian independence and the promotion of national identity, others criticize his authoritarian rule and suppression of political opposition.

[16] In particular, Lithuanian language and culture was openly promoted by the linguist, Jonas Jablonskis, teacher of Greek, with whom Smetona developed a close professional relationship.

[22] Smetona and two others, Jurgis Šlapelis [lt] and Petras Vaiciuška, managed to secure an audience with Delyanov, who allowed the Lithuanians to pray in Latin and the expelled students to continue their education.

He was more interested in history and languages, but knew that as a Catholic his choices were limited to priest, lawyer, or doctor if he wanted to work in Lithuania.

[24] It was the first time Smetona visited the city, the historical capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and it left a deep impression on him.

[27] In 1898, Smetona and his roommate, Vladas Sirutavičius [lt], using a mimeograph, printed about 100 copies of a brief Lithuanian grammar written by Petras Avižonis based on the German-language writings of Friedrich Kurschat.

Between December 1918 and March 1919, he lived primarily in Germany and the Scandinavian countries, soliciting loans for the cause of Lithuanian independence.

After the Klaipėda Revolt of January 1923, in the Memelland, which had been separated from Germany, he was made commissioner there on 20 February, but, due to disagreements with Prime Minister Ernestas Galvanauskas, he resigned from his post.

[33] "The Poles stole Lithuanian history, now the Russians are trying to steal it, we have to catch those thieves by the hand and show them in a real light to the entire world."

The Seimas was not reconvened until the 1936 Lithuanian parliamentary election; for the next decade, Smetona ruled by decree, without a parliament, making his regime on paper one of the most arbitrary in the world.

In 1938, a third constitution was enacted that retained the general authoritarian character of the 1928 document, and declared that political power in the state was "indivisible."

[35] However, despite propaganda that Communists were a "non-Lithuanian force invading the country", they continued to operate underground with growing membership and it is known today that their leaders were ethnically Lithuanian.

This exacerbated long-standing tensions within his regime between hardliners arguing for more rigid authoritarian control over Lithuanian life, and moderates who wanted liberalisation.

[39][40] By 1938, however, Memel was becoming a difficult issue for a regime spending a quarter of its budget on defence and expensive army modernisation,[36] and the Nazis were able to win 26 of 29 seats in elections.

[43] Nonetheless, during Smetona's dictatorship, Lithuania did advance economically: industrial output – mainly directed to domestic demand – when he was overthrown by the Soviet invasion was twice what it had been before the coup that brought him to power, and the country's transport network had been greatly improved by the construction of railways from Šiauliai to Klaipėda and from Kaunas to the south and north-east.

In contrast, Smetona was more generous in support for the agricultural sector, which at the time provided almost all of Lithuania's exports despite occasionally protesting against the regime.

[44] but most of the government and army commanders believed that the country was not capable of effective resistance with Soviet troops stationed inside Lithuania[when?].

[45] On 15 June, Smetona turned his presidential duties over to Prime Minister Antanas Merkys on an interim basis, according to the constitution.

Paleckis then became acting president, and was used as a puppet to oversee the final stages of Lithuania's incorporation into the Soviet Union a month later.

Since Lithuania declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, it has taken the position that Merkys' takeover of the presidency was illegal and unconstitutional, since Smetona never formally resigned.

Lithuania thus does not recognize Merkys or Paleckis as legitimate presidents, and contends that all subsequent actions leading up to the Soviet annexation were ipso facto void.

On the morning of 15 June, just after the government decided to accept the Soviet ultimatum, Smetona made hasty preparations to flee the country.

As Smetona was busy on his writing, he paid little attention to the fact that the heating system in his son's house needed repair and was becoming dangerous.

Some believe, however, that due to Smetona's continued political activities, the fire was started by the Russian Intelligence Service (called the NKGB at the time).