Stefanija Ladigienė

Stefanija Ladigienė née Paliulytė (23 January 1901 – 18 September 1967) was a Lithuanian Catholic women's activist and magazine editor. She was a member of the Third Seimas (Lithuania's parliament) in 1926–1927.

Born to a family of a Lithuanian book smuggler, Ladigienė attended schools in Saint Petersburg and Tambov and later studied but did not graduate from Vytautas Magnus University. She was editor of Moteris, monthly Lithuanian Catholic women's magazine published by the Lithuanian Catholic Women's Organization, in 1920–1922 and of monthly women's magazine Naujoji vaidilutė in 1925–1927. As a representative of the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party, she was elected to the Third Seimas. As the youngest elected member, she was secretary of the first session of the Seimas but not a very active parliamentarian.

When her husband general Kazys Ladiga was dismissed from the Lithuanian Army, the family moved to the Gulbinėnai Manor near Pasvalys where they established a large farm. Despite family duties and remote location, Ladigienė remained active in public life. She organized local women into a choir, opened chapters of Catholic organizations Pavasarininkai and Angelaičiai, delivered various educational lectures. In 1939, Ladigienė moved to Vilnius. During World War II, she hid Irena Veisaitė, a Jewish girl from the Kovno Ghetto. For attempting to reestablish Ateitis, Ladigienė was arrested by the NKVD in 1946 and sentenced to ten years in Gulag. She returned to Lithuania in 1957 and died in Vilnius in 1967.