Alma Adamkienė, the former first lady of the country, the wife of President Valdas Adamkaus, died on Sunday at the age of 97.
The news agency reviews the words of condolence from the country's leaders, other politicians and people who interacted with the Adamk family.
President Gitanas Nauseda. "With her humanity and sincerity, the first lady Alma Adamkienė earned the sympathy and love of the entire nation, and for many she remained an unsurpassed example of wisdom and elegance. Lithuania will never forget Mrs. Alma's contribution to changing the attitude towards children's rights in Lithuania, her special care shown to the children of Lithuania's regions by personally visiting schools, hospitals, and foster homes. The faithful support of Mrs. Alma to her husband Valdas, sometimes even self-sacrifice in the name of his life's mission, in the name of Lithuania, will remain forever in the memory of Lithuania, and the pair of them will always be an example of noble and bright personalities, devoted to each other and their country to the end".
Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte. "Next to the sadness of the painful loss felt today, the bright memory of Alma Adamkienė is with us and will always remain. Respect for others, benevolence, dedication to the weak are what earned her the admiration and love of many people. As the first lady of the state, A. Adamkienė gave these informal duties a dimension of human sensitivity, she tried to pay attention to what was not always noticeable to everyone, but where there were people who especially needed this attention and an outstretched helping hand".
Speaker of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen. "We have lost a particularly bright personality who had an unconditionally open heart for everyone. Alma Adamkienė brought back to Lithuania the culture of charity, care and kindness, which showed how much we can achieve together. We are grateful to her for the lessons of wisdom, elegance, femininity and restraint, for the example of special love and sensitive devotion to the family. We will miss the warmth of A. Adamkiene, with which she enveloped every person in Lithuania".
The author of the book "Adamkus", history professor Egidijus Aleksandravičius. "I would put many signs of equality between Alma Adamkiene and Valdas Adamkaus. In other words, education, erudition, books read, topics and concerns raised, artistic taste. After all, the beauty of the everyday life they created together, and the beauty that will always be in harmony with goodness. The harmony between beauty and goodness was clearly visible. This creates an envelope of humanity for everything that V. Adamkus did in a very visible way to everyone, and when combined in that more private life, where they did not see many people, but saw them when they communicated more closely, the harmony between A. Adamkiene and V. Adamkus is simply phenomenal".
Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis. "We have lost a dedicated nurturer of philanthropic traditions in Lithuania, the founder of a support fund for children. Alma Adamkienė will remain an example of a particularly tolerant and empathetic person to those around her. I express my deepest condolences to Valdas Adamkas, the President of the Republic of Lithuania, who lost his life partner, to the relatives of the deceased and to all who had the honor of knowing her."
Archbishop Gintaras Gruš. "Alma Adamkienė taught the people of Lithuania compassion, understanding, and love by her restrained example. She gathered like-minded people for noble goals, invited them to turn to the needy, those with fewer opportunities, paid special attention to children, their education and education".
Family friend Artūras Zuokas. "In fact, she was always next to the president, next to V. Adamkaus, and it would seem that she was always in the shadows, but in fact, I think she was the engine that led the president forward."
Family friend Birutė Vizgirdienė. "She was very good at listening, she never interrupted. It reminded me of Queen Elizabeth II, because I got to meet her. These two women, when you say something, they look you straight in the eye. And you see that all the attention is about what you are talking about. Very few people can do that."
Raimundas Mieželis, a longtime friend of Adamkai. "I have never seen or heard of them fighting or getting angry. I don't think they've ever had an argument in their married life. They were very important to each other."
Former presidential spokesperson Rita Grumadaitė: "Raised the bar very high, the standard of the president's wife, as the first lady is now called. Back then, no one called her that, she was the president's wife. Although she didn't really care about the external sheen or the weight of the titles she interacted with. She was very simple, very sincere, that's why she might have bribed her - that's her special charm."
Authors: Saulius Jakučionis, Jurgita Andriejauskaitė
