Neringa Stoskute

Neringa Stoskute was born in 1986 in the village of Kaunas in south western Lithuania, the youngest of 7 children. Her parents worked in a farming collective during the time of the former Soviet Union and were members of the little known Trotskyite resistance movement of Lithuania (TRML) and were believed to play a role in the country's independence in 1991. Her father, Vytautas was named after the 13th century Lithuanian Grand-Duke and it is believed that the family may be direct descendants. Vytautas was also a recipient of a Stakhanovite Medal. Her brother, Anderste who is known to be strikingly blond runs a provocative blog calling for the re-ascension of Lithuania to the Russian federation and is a member of the Nashi movement. Neringa left home at the age of 14 initially working as a shop assistant in Vilnius. However her keen recreational interest in fishing drew her to the harbour city Klaipeda where she was hired as boats-hand. An accident involving a British submarine in 2002 awarded her a substantial compensation allowing her sufficient resources to attend the Vilnius College of Film and Television where she studied sound and lighting until 2004. She then moved to the United Kingdom to work as a stage hand and is pursuing a part time degree in Interior Design at the Glasgow School of Art.