Elected a member of the European Parliament in 2009, Leonidas Donskis is a philosopher, political theorist, historian of ideas, social analyst, and political commentator. As a public figure in Lithuania, he also acts as a defender of human rights and civil liberties. Born on August 13, 1962, in Klaipeda, Lithuania, Donskis received his first doctorate in philosophy from the University of Vilnius, and later earned his second doctorate in social and moral philosophy from the University of Helsinki, Finland.