Virgilijus Juozas Čepaitis (8 November 1937 in Šakiai, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian publisher and translator, best known for his involvement in the Sąjūdis independence movement. He was the Executive Secretary of Sąjūdis and a member of its Initiative Group. He was also a signatory of the Declaration of the Restoration of Independence of Lithuania on 11 March 1990.
1988–1989 – the chief-editor of the film company "ARS";
1989–1990 – the executive secretary of the Sąjūdis Movement;
1990–1992 – Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Committee for Civil Rights and Ethnic Minorities;
Chairman of the Sąjūdis faction, the member of the Lithuanian delegation in the negotiations with Russia in 1990–1991. Head of the Lithuanian delegation in the non-official negotiations with the Soviet Union in Hague, organised by De Burght consultations, 1991;
1993–1996 – the chief-editor of the publishing company "Litera";
1996–2001 – the director of the publishing company "Tvermė".
Since 2001 – the owner of the publishing company "Librum"
He is the author of a screenplay for the film Virto ąžuolai (Oak Trees Fell; 1976).
Awards
The Medal of Lithuanian Independence (awarded on July 1, 2000)
The Award of Commemoration of Lithuania's Membership of NATO (awarded on July 25, 2002)
References
(in Lithuanian)[1]. Virgilijus Juozas Čepaitis. Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.
"Lietuvos Istorija", Sąjūdis ("History of Lithuania", in Lithuanian) Vol XII, part 1, Institute of History of Lithuania, ed. Česlovas Laurinavičius, Vladas Sirutavičius - ISBN978-9955-23-164-6 (12-th Vol, Part-1) and ISBN9955-584-91-2 (12 Volumes), 2008, 579 pp.
"Su Sąjūdžiu už Lietuvą" ("With Sąjūdis for Lithuania", in Lithuanian) by Virgilijus Čepaitis, 2007, ISBN9986-476-41-0, 470 pp.