Ina Marčiulionytė
Encyclopedia
Ina Marčiulionytė is the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of the Republic of Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

 to UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 at the headquarters in Paris and has served in that post since 2003. Since 2007, she also serves as Vice-President of the UNESCO Executive Board.

In 2009, she was jointly nominated by Lithuania, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

 and Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

 as a candidate to the post of UNESCO Director-General.

Biography

As a former Chair of the World Heritage Committee
World Heritage Committee
The World Heritage Committee establishes the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties...

, she was leading UNESCO's efforts to improve the Organization's most visible area of activity, protection of the World Heritage, by strengthening the safeguarding and monitoring of the sites on the World Heritage list.

In 1999, she was appointed Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania
Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania
The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania is a governmental body of the Republic of Lithuania. Its mission is to formulate and implement state cultural policies supporting professional and amateur art, theatre, music, fine arts, cinema, museums, libraries, and written publications, to...

, a position she held to 2003. As Vice-Minister, Ms. Marčiulionytė participated in organizing the international conference "Dialogue Among Civilizations", supported by UNESCO, and contributed to the preparatory work of UNESCO's 2003 Convention on Intangible Heritage.

Ms. Marčiulionytė graduated from Vilnius University
Vilnius University
Vilnius University is the oldest university in the Baltic states and one of the oldest in Eastern Europe. It is also the largest university in Lithuania....

 in 1986, with a degree in Lithuanian language and literature. She had worked as a correspondent and editor for various Lithuanian newspapers and magazines. In 1988 she joined Sąjūdis
Sajudis
Sąjūdis initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania, is the political organization which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was established on June 3, 1988 and was led by Vytautas Landsbergis...

, the Lithuanian Reform Movement that led to regaining the independence of Lithuania in 1990. As a member of Sajūdis, Ms. Marčiulionytė actively sought to revive the use of the Lithuanian language and to protect the cultural heritage suppressed during the Soviet period. Ms. Marčiulionytė was a driving force for freedom and democracy when Lithuania regained its independence.

As a founding member of the Open Society
Open society
The open society is a concept originally developed by philosopher Henri Bergson and then by Austrian and British philosopher Karl Popper. In open societies, government is purported to be responsive and tolerant, and political mechanisms are said to be transparent and flexible...

 Fund Lithuania in 1991, Ms. Marčiulionytė was in the vanguard of the efforts to foster democracy in the newly independent Lithuania. Under her leadership, the Open Society House, responsible for cultural and educational programs, became a well-established meeting place for intellectuals, educators, journalists and artists from all over Lithuania, as well as their counterparts from Eastern and Central Europe. At the Open Society Fund she worked with George Soros
George Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...

.

She speaks four languages ( English, French, Lithuanian and Russian) and has translated several books and articles published in the national and international specialized press on arts and culture, cultural policy and heritage.

She has been honored with the Cross of Commander of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas
Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas
The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this Order. The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke...

, the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was honors citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices.
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