Stasys Putvinskis or Pūtvis[a] (3 August 1898 – 4 April 1942) was a Lithuanian military officer, agronomist, and politician.

Putvinskis was born to a family of Lithuanian nobles that owned a large farm in Pavėžupis [lt].

After the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, Putvinskis was arrested by the NKVD and sentenced to eight years in prison.

[2] His family traced its noble roots to the times of Grand Duke Vytautas (died in 1430).

His mother Emilija Putvinskienė [lt] was also from the Lithuanian nobility and was a relative of Bishop Motiejus Valančius.

Their estates had 350 hectares (860 acres) of land, owned 40 cows and 36 horses, and employed 27 people.

[4] His father was deported to Voskresenskoye in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast,[3] while his siblings were cut off in Moscow.

[4] Despite the difficulties, Putvinskis continued his education at the newly established Lithuanian Gymnasium of Rytas Society in Vilnius.

[6] He continued his father's practice of commercial breeding of fish in 12 ponds that covered a total of 82 hectares (200 acres).

[6] He was an avid hunter and a few times a year organized large hunts attended by various officials.

[6] In summer, his estates were visited by various officials, including zoologist Tadas Ivanauskas, painter Antanas Žmuidzinavičius, doctor Juozas Nemeikša [lt], musicologist Jadvyga Čiurlionytė [lt], writer Balys Sruoga, colonel Mykolas Kalmantas.

[6] In 1938, after resignation from the Ministry of Agriculture, Putvinskis moved to Bubiai Manor [lt] that he inherited from his sister-in-law.

He succeeded Jonas Pranas Aleksa who was the Minister of Agriculture since the December 1926 coup d'état that brought President Antanas Smetona to power.

[8] On 17 March 1938, Poland delivered an ultimatum to Lithuania demanding to reestablish diplomatic relations that were severed due to the conflict over Vilnius Region since 1920.

According to memoirs of General Stasys Raštikis, Putvinskis was the most vocal of government ministers arguing that Lithuania should reject the ultimatum.

[2] On 12 July 1940, just a month after the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, Putvinskis was arrested by the NKVD and kept in Šiauliai Prison [lt].

On 14 June 1941, just a week before the German invasion of the Soviet Union, he was transported first to Staraya Russa and then to the prison in Gorky [ru] (now Nizhny Novgorod).