A. Adamkienė, the wife of President Valdas Adamkaus, the first lady, social activist, philanthropist, died three years ago, in 2023. May 21
In the inscription on the tombstone, attention is drawn to the spelling of the deceased’s surname – Adamkus. The couple got married in the USA, so her official surname after marriage became the same as the man’s, and not the female surnames characteristic of Lithuania.
Adamkuslibrary.lt writes that Alma Adamkiene, born on February 10, 1927 in Šiauliai, father, Stasys Nutautas, was a merchant, mother, Ona Soblytė-Nutautienė, helped her husband in business.
Her father, born on March 8, 1899, died in 1977 in Chicago. The centenarian mother, who was born on June 29, 1904 and lived in Lithuania with Adamkais, died on June 25, 2006.
When the Soviet army invaded Lithuania in 1944, the Nutautai family, and together with them Alma, had to move to Germany. Later, in 1949, they moved to the United States of America. Alma Adamkienė graduated from Eikštet Gymnasium in Germany, then studied at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Erlangen, Bavaria.
Moments of A. Adamkiene’s life: charitable activities, love for her husband and public support
In 1951, Alma married Valdas Adamkaus.
After arriving in the United States, Alma Adamkienė worked as a laboratory technician in a steel factory, later in an insurance company. From 1962, for even twenty-five years, she managed the Tabor Farm summer residence purchased by the Adamkais, which became an important center of Lithuania. For many years, the conventions of the liberal-leaning Lithuanian expatriate organization “Santara-Šviesa” were held here.
Back in 1997 during the autumn presidential election campaign, Alma Adamkienė decided that no matter how the elections ended, she would start charitable activities in Lithuania.
in 1999 the Alma Adamkiene Charity and Support Fund was established, the purpose of which is to help children. During the fifteen years of its activity, it provided support to 45 provincial schools, children’s hospitals, orphanages and carried out various charity projects.
in 2023 May 21 died in Vilnius at the age of 97.
She was buried in the Petrašiūnai cemetery in Kaunas.
