Dovas Zaunius (19 June 1892 – 22 February 1940) was a Lithuanian lawyer, politician and diplomat who served as Ambassador to Switzerland from 1925 until 1927 and Lithuanian Foreign Minister from 1929 to 1934.

Biography

Zaunius was born in

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1 ...

as the youngest son of Dovas Zaunius (senior) who was a political and public figure in

Lithuania Minor Lithuania Minor ( lt, Mažoji Lietuva; german: Kleinlitauen; pl, Litwa Mniejsza; russian: Ма́лая Литва́), or Prussian Lithuania ( lt, Prūsų Lietuva; german: Preußisch-Litauen, pl, Litwa Pruska), is a historical ethnography, et ...

. In 1911, he graduated from the Tilsit Gymnasium from there he went on to study law at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: link=no, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of ...

. In 1917, Zaunius defended his doctoral thesis in criminal and civil law at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Pruss ...

. During his studies Zaunius joined the

Lithuanian Conservative Election Societies The Lithuanian Conservative Election Societies ( lt, Lietuviškos konservatyvų skyrimo draugystės) were several loosely connected political societies of Prussian Lithuanians active from 1890 to the German Revolution of 1918–19. They sought to e ...

headed by his father Dovas Zaunius. During World War I, he served in the German Army and after the German capitulation he was invited to work at the

Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos užsienio reikalų ministerija) is a governmental body of the Republic of Lithuania that shapes the national policy, and organises, coordinates, and controls ...

as a qualified lawyer. From 1919 to 1920, he served as acting director of the Policy Department. In 1920, he was appointed Lithuanian affairs trustee in Latvia and Estonia. Zaunius began his diplomatic career after his appointment as

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

of Lithuania to

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and Romania (1924–1925). In 1925, he was made envoy to Switzerland and permanent representative of Lithuania to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by ...

. In 1927, after the liquidation of the Lithuanian representation at the League of Nations, he returned to Lithuania and was appointed as secretary-general of the Foreign Ministry and envoy to Czechoslovakia. On 8 November 1929, Zaunius became the Lithuanian Foreign Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister

Juozas Tūbelis Juozas Tūbelis (9 April 1882 in Ilgalaukis, Kovno Governorate – 30 September 1939, Kaunas) was a Lithuanian politician, Prime Minister and member and chairman of the Lithuanian Nationalists Union. In 1908, he graduated from Polytechnical Inst ...

. During his tenure, Lithuanian diplomats achieved some success at the

Permanent Court of International Justice The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cent ...

in cases against the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

(concerning rail traffic on the

Libau–Romny Railway Libau–Romny Railway was a railway company that built a railway line in the Russian Empire in 1871–74 to connect Romny in Ukraine with the port in Libau (Liepāja) in present-day Latvia. To do so it passed through Minsk The objective of the ...

) and the

Weimar Republic The German Reich, commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic,, was a historical period of Germany from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also r ...

(concerning the dismissal of Otto Böttcher, President of the Directorate of the Klaipėda Region). Zaunius also made progress on forming the

Baltic Entente The Baltic Entente was based on Treaty of Good-Understanding and Co-operation signed between Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia on September 12, 1934 in Geneva. The main objective of the agreement was joint action in foreign policy. It also included ...

. In 1934–1936, he worked at the State Council of Lithuania, assisting with various agreements with foreign countries. After leaving the State Council in 1936, Zaunius became Chairman of the Board of the

Bank of Lithuania The Bank of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos bankas) is the central bank of the Republic of Lithuania. The Bank of Lithuania is a member of the European System of Central Banks. The chairman of the bank is Gediminas Šimkus. Until 2015, the Bank of Lit ...

(1936–1940) and Chairman of the Currency Commission. Zaunius also participated in activities of the

Lithuanian Riflemen's Union The Lithuanian Riflemen's Union (LRU, lt, Lietuvos šaulių sąjunga), also referred to as Šauliai ( lt, šaulys for ''rifleman''), is a paramilitary non-profit organisation supported by the State. The activities are in three main areas: milita ...

, Union for the Liberation of Vilnius, and Scout Association of Lithuania. Zaunis worked at the Bank of Lithuania until his death in 1940. He was buried at the Kaunas Evangelical Cemetery (now Ramybė Park).

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaunius, Dovas 1892 births 1940 deaths Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Lithuanian diplomats 20th-century Lithuanian lawyers Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni University of Königsberg alumni