Stella Stanaslauskas

**Stella Stanaslauskas** (born 25 August 1942) is a New Anglian-Hawaiian politician, lawyer, and stateswoman. First elected to the House of Representatives for Oahu in 1990, Stanaslauskas went on to serve as minister of the interior in the Sun ministry from 1998 until 1999, minister of foreign affairs in both the Sun and Loughlin ministries from 1999 until 2004, and minister of justice in the Chang ministry from 2014 until 2018. She is a member of the Hawaii National Party, and was the first European-born woman to serve in the Hawaiian parliament.

Stanaslauskas was born in Akademija, Kėdainiai in Lithuania. In the aftermath of World War II, her family left Lithuania as displaced persons and settled in Brooklyn, New Anglia in 1945, when she was three years old. The family were prominent members of Lithuanian-New Anglian social circles in Brooklyn. Stanaslauskas attended Catholic schooling in Brooklyn, graduating from St. Joseph Secondary School in 1960. She subsequently enrolled in Radcliffe College, receiving a bachelor's degree in English literature in 1964, and later a law degree from Columbia Law School in 1967. After becoming a practicing attorney, Stanaslauskas briefly worked in corporate law for one year, until leaving her corporate job to work in women's rights law, representing women in civil cases regarding domestic disturbances, harassment, and discrimination.

In 1971, Stanaslauskas and her husband moved from Brooklyn to Honolulu, Hawaii due to her husband's employment in the tourism industry. After settling in Hawaii, Stanaslauskas briefly left her law career in order to become a homemaker. In 1983, Stanaslauskas decided to enroll in a graduate program at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, and received a public policy degree in 1987. She took a part-time position in the local Honolulu city government's law office in 1985, later becoming full-time in 1986, and eventually becoming assistant general counsel to the mayor of Honolulu in 1988. Stanaslauskas began her career in elected politics in 1990, after she was elected to the House of Representatives for the Hawaii National Party in the 1990 general election. Upon her election to parliament, she became the first Lithuanian-born person and first European-born woman to serve in the Hawaiian parliament. As a legislator, Stanaslauskas focused on a number of political issues, namely foreign policy, defense policy, immigration law, justice, and national security. Shortly after her election, Stanaslauskas was named a "rising star" within the Hawaii National Party, and was cited by pundits as a potential future prime minister.

Following the resignation of John Yamamoto as party chairperson in 1994, Stanaslauskas became a favorite to succeed him. However, she ultimately declined having any interest and stated that she believed she lacked experience to lead the party, so she did not run in the leadership election, which Christopher Sun went on to win. After the HNP were victorious in the 1998 general election, Sun nominated Stanaslauskas to serve as minister of the interior in the Sun ministry. After less than one year in the position, she was promoted to minister of foreign affairs following the resignation of Charles Daichi. As foreign affairs minister, Stanaslauskas advocated for a highly interventionist and globalist foreign policy, which saw Hawaii involving itself in the affairs of many Pacific Islands nations, in addition to strengthening relations with nations in North America and Asia. Following the resignation of Sun and succession of Eric Loughlin as prime minister, Stanaslauskas remained in her position in the first and second Loughlin ministries, but was later dismissed in 2004, after Daichi became prime minister and nominated his ministry, returning to the backbench.

While a backbencher, Stanaslauskas was critical of Daichi and the government, which she viewed as veering too far to the left-wing, but reiterated that she would support any government of the HNP. Daichi resigned as party chairperson and prime minister following the 2006 general election, and Stanaslauskas was once again considered a favorite to succeed him in the leadership election, but she again opted not to, citing no interest in serving as party chairperson or prime minister. A subsequent 2010 leadership election saw Stanalauskas becoming an enthusiastic supporter of David Chang, who went on to win the election. The HNP regained the majority in the 2014 general election and Chang became prime minister, nominating Stanaslauskas to serve as minister of justice in the Chang ministry. She remained in the position for the entirety of Chang's tenure as prime minister, and was cited as a member of Chang's "inner circle." She later was dismissed from the position and returned to the backbench following the end of the Chang ministry in 2018, and the swearing in of the Kanazawa ministry.

Ideologically, Stanaslauskas has been identified as belonging to the center-right of the Hawaii National Party and political spectrum, and has been cited as a liberal conservative, conservative, and Christian democrat. Her policy views mix center-right positions on economic and social issues, opposing measures such as corporate regulations, same-sex marriage, and abortion rights, while also remaining moderate on topics relating to issues such as immigration and granting assistance to the less-fortunate. Personally, Stanaslauskas identifies herself as a "moderate-conservative," and has frequently stated that her political beliefs are shaped by her devoutly Catholic religious beliefs. Pundits have described Stanaslauskas as one of the most politically powerful and influential women in Hawaiian politics. In 2017, Stanaslauskas was listed as one of the women most likely to become the first female HNP prime minister.

## Early life and family

Stanaslauskas was born as Stanislova Stanislauskaitė on 25 August 1942 in Akademija, Kėdainiai in Lithuania, near the city of Kaunas, to parents Gustavas Stanislauskas (1914–1989) and Julijona Stanislauskienė (née *Ščeponavičiūtė*; 1916–1999). Her father was an educated university-graduate who had studied economics, while her mother was a homemaker and former seamstress. Stanaslauskas is the youngest of three children; her elder siblings include Vitas (1938–2001) and Živilė (born 1940). When she was three years old, the family left Lithuania as displaced persons in the aftermath of World War II, and settled in Brooklyn in New Anglia.

Once arriving in New Anglia, the family anglicized their names; *Gustavas* became Gus, *Julijona* became Julianna, *Vitas* became Victor, *Živilė* became Zoe, and *Stanislova* became Stella, while their surname went from *Stanislauskas* to Stanaslauskas due to a mistyping. No one in the family spoke English, although Stella quickly learned and began to act as a translator for her mother, who never learned the language. Meanwhile, her father began his New Anglian career as a tailor, later becoming the owner of his own successful tailoring business. Upon coming to Brooklyn, the family settled in a Lithuanian community in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, later moving to a house in Ridgewood in 1955. The family was devoutly Roman Catholic, and attended a Lithuanian church in Brooklyn.

### Education

Stanaslauskas began her education in 1947, enrolling in Catholic schools in Brooklyn. While in primary school, Stanaslauskas proved herself to be a gifted student who could grasp difficult concepts in various subjects that her classmates struggled with. In 1953, she was elected president of her sixth grade class. Stanaslauskas later began secondary school at the all-girls Catholic school St. Joseph Secondary School in 1954. While in secondary school, Stanaslauskas was both a gifted and popular student, who served as class president and graduated as valedictorian in 1960.

Following her secondary school graduation, Stanaslauskas enrolled in Radcliffe College in Massachusetts, a women's college that was at the time affiliated with Harvard University, although the schools have since merged and Radcliffe no longer exists. While at Radcliffe, Stanaslauskas studied English literature while also minoring in political science. She graduated from the school in 1964, becoming part of one of the first classes of graduates that received joint degrees from Radcliffe-Harvard, as opposed to degrees from solely Radcliffe which were offered to graduates prior to 1963. After receiving her bachelor's degree, Stanaslauskas returned to New York City, but settled in Manhattan to enroll in Columbia Law School. She was one of the few women in her class, but ultimately received her law degree in 1967, and became licensed to practice law in New Anglia.

Stanalauskas later enrolled as a part-time student in a public policy degree program at the University of Hawaii, Manoa in 1983. She graduated with her degree in 1987.

## Law career

After graduating with her law degree in 1967, Stanaslauskas became licensed to practice law within New Anglia. She was hired as a junior associate attorney at the law firm Bunton, Johnson, and Associates in Manhattan, where she worked in the firm's employment law department. At the firm, Stanaslauskas was responsible for handling cases regarding disputes between employers and employees, on behalf of the employers. After being hired, Stanaslauskas was the only woman working at the firm who was not a secretary, and she recalls her coworkers frequently ignoring her and instead encouraging her to eat lunch and socialize with the secretaries instead. Due to the sexist treatment she received at the firm, Stanaslauskas's interest in law began to wane, and she began to consider a career change.

After one year of working at the firm, Stanaslauskas resigned. She subsequently was hired as an attorney at the women's rights nonprofit organization Feminist Defense. At the woman-run organization, Stanaslauskas was tasked with representing women in a variety of civil cases involving sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and domestic disturbances. Working at Feminist Defense led Stanaslauskas to rediscover her passion for law, and persuaded her not to leave the industry. However, she later resigned from her position in 1971, after she and her husband moved from Brooklyn to Hawaii. Her husband, Henry Bergmann, was working as an executive at the tourism company Natchez Tours in Manhattan. In 1971, he was promoted to run the newly opened Hawaii branch of the company, and moved to Honolulu with Stanaslauskas to accept the offer.

After arriving in Hawaii, Stanaslauskas did not return to working full-time, and instead found a part-time job in retail until she and her husband decided to begin having children, when she became a homemaker. In 1985, Stanaslauskas took a part-time job at the general counsel office for the mayor of Honolulu. She later became a full-time paralegal in 1986, before becoming hired as associate general counsel to the mayor in 1988. As associate general counsel, Stanaslauskas deputized the general counsel to the mayor, which advises the mayor's office on legal issues. She left the position to enter elected politics in 1990.

## Personal life

### Family

Stanaslauskas began a relationship with New Anglian tourism executive Henry Bergmann in 1967. They later became engaged after one year of dating, and married in 1969. Bergmann is also from New York City and grew up in a family of mixed Alsatian and German origin, as a Lutheran. He converted from Lutheranism to Roman Catholicism prior to his marriage to Stanaslauskas. After the marriage, Stanaslauskas kept her surname, considered unusual at the time, in order to highlight her Lithuanian heritage.

Stanaslauskas and Bergmann have two children together: Courtney (born 1973) and Peter (born 1975). Since moving to Hawaii in 1971, Stanaslauskas has resided with her family in Honolulu. In 1976, they purchased a $1.5 million Hawaii Kai estate in East Honolulu, where they continue to reside. Courtney has one son and one granddaughter while Peter has three children, making Stanaslauskas a grandmother and great-grandmother.

### Citizenship and religion

Stanaslauskas holds citizenship to Hawaii, New Anglia, and Lithuania; she was born a Lithuanian citizen, but lost Lithuanian citizenship after the country was annexed by the Soviet Union, naturalized as a New Anglian citizen with her family in 1953, and naturalized as a Hawaiian citizen with her husband in 1980. During a diplomatic trip to Lithuania in 2000, Stanaslauskas was awarded a Lithuanian passport and a reestablishment of her Lithuanian citizenship, along with her immediate family.

Stanaslauskas is multilingual; her native language is Lithuanian, while she also has a relative degree of proficiency in Polish and Russian, although she is not fluent. She learned English shortly after moving to New Anglia, and knows words and phrases in Hawaiian, although she is not conversational. Stanaslauskas is a devout Roman Catholic, and attends church weekly.