Embassy of Lithuania in Washington, D.C., is the

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

of the

Republic of Lithuania A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. It is located at 2622 16th Street Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the

Adams Morgan Adams Morgan is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., centered at the intersection of 18th Street NW and Columbia Road, about 1.5 miles (2.54 km) north of the White House. Notable establishments in the neighborhood include ...

neighborhood.

Building

The building was designed by architect

George Oakley Totten, Jr. George Oakley Totten Jr. (December 5, 1866 – February 1, 1939), was one of Washington D.C.’s most prolific and skilled architects in the Gilded Age. His international training and interest in architectural decoration led to a career of contin ...

It was built in 1909 by Senator John B. Henderson and his wife

Mary Foote Henderson Mary Foote Henderson (July 21, 1842 – July 16, 1931) was an American author, real estate developer, and social activist from the U.S. state of New York who was known as "The Empress of Sixteenth Street". Henderson was a notable supporter of wom ...

. In 1924, Lithuania bought the building for $90,000. It was damaged when a bomb was detonated at the next-door Cuban Interests Section on May 19, 1979. At the time the building was occupied by the

Lithuanian diplomatic service The Diplomatic Service of the Republic of Lithuania is the part of the governmental service tasked with enforcing the foreign policy set by the President, the Parliament, and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. The head of the service is t ...

acting in conditions of exile. Its meager budget did not allow for extensive repairs. Therefore, Stasys Antanas Bačkis organized a fundraising campaign among Lithuanian Americans and collected about $130,000. The repairs and much needed reconstruction was carried out in 1981–1983.

History

After World War I, Lithuania regained independence from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

and opened

legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legations ...

s to establish independent diplomatic representation. At the time, the legation was the standard form of diplomatic mission, and only

Great Power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power inf ...

s established embassies in each other's capitals. Although Lithuania was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940, its prewar government had instructed its diplomats to maintain an independent presence in exile. After the war, the embassy became the standard form of diplomatic representation, but Lithuania could not receive a U.S. Ambassador since its territory was controlled by the Soviet Union. By 1990, the Baltic legations were the last remaining legations in Washington, D.C. In 1991, an independent Lithuania finally upgraded its legation to an embassy.

Ambassadors

The Lithuanian

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

in Washington, D.C. is the official representative of the Government in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

to the Government of the

References

External links

Official website

wikimapia
Lithuania Washington, D.C. Lithuania–United States relations Adams Morgan

Lithuania {{WashingtonDC-struct-stub

Building

History

Ambassadors

See also

References

External links