Journalist Audrius Matonis was born on April 25, 1965, in Vilnius. From 1983 to 1988, he studied in the Department of Journalism at Vilnius University. In 1992, he studied on probation in the Telecommunication Institute at Ohio University (USA). From 1986 to 1992, he was the editor and editorial correspondent for Lithuanian radio broadcasts for foreign countries. From 1992, he has been the BNS (Baltic News Service) news agency editor, and from 2000, the BNS editor-in-chief and political commentator. Since 2004, he has been a commission member for Lithuanian radio and television and a television presenter for political debates.

He has also been quite active in the public sphere: he was the Lithuanian delegation’s public relations’ consultant during negotiations for EU membership. He was a Lithuanian foreign policy board member and now is a board member for the Strategic Study Centre. He is also a member of the board and directorate of the European Movement, and a member of the board of trustees for the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University. He is a Cavalier of the Knight’s Cross of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania’s Gediminas medal.

The photo is from the personal archive of the author.