Stasys Lozoraitis Jr. (born: August 2, 1924 – June 13, 1994) was a Lithuanian diplomat and politician who served as the Head of 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 ...

from 1987 to 1991, Chief Diplomat 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 ...

1991 to 1993 and Ambassador to Italy 1993 to 1994. He was a son of the famous diplomat Stasys Lozoraitis (1898–1983) and brother of

Kazys Lozoraitis Kazys Lozoraitis (23 July 1929 in Berlin – 13 August 2007 in Rome) was a prominent Lithuanian diplomat and cultural activist. He was the first ambassador of Lithuania to the Holy See and to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Biography Ka ...

. Lozoraitis studied law at the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

from 1944 to 1948. He worked at the Lithuanian legation to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

in Rome from 1943. In 1970, after death of Stasys Girdvainis, Lozoraitis became the ''

chargé d’affaires Chargé () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division) ...

'' in Rome. On November 15, 1987, Lozoraitis succeeded Stasys Bačkis as the leader of Lithuania's diplomatic service in exile, the position held by his father until 1983. The diplomatic service, based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, was representation of

interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...

independent Lithuania and did not recognize authority of the

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...

, a republic of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. In March 1990, Lithuania declared restoration of its independence. On September 6, 1991, following

August Putsch August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in th ...

in Moscow and international recognition of independent Lithuania, Lozoraitis resigned the diplomatic service in favor of the national government established in Vilnius. In December 1991, he was appointed as the new government's chief diplomat to the United States, where he re-established the embassy. He was a candidate in the Lithuanian presidential election of February 1993, gathering 38.9% of vote and losing to

Algirdas Brazauskas Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas (, 1932 – 2010) was the first President (fourth overall) of a newly re-independent post-Soviet Lithuania from 1993 to 1998 and Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. He also served as head of the Communist Party o ...

. In May 1993, just a few months after the election, Brazauskas recalled Lozoraitis as ambassador to the U.S. despite criticism of politicizing the issue. In late 1993, Lozoraitis was appointed as the ambassador to Italy. Lozoraitis died of liver failure at

Georgetown University Hospital MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the Washington, D.C. area's oldest academic teaching hospitals. It is a not-for-profit, acute care teaching and research facility located in the Georgetown neighborhood of the Northwest Quadrant ...

. He was buried in

Putnam, Connecticut Putnam is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,224 at the 2020 census. History Putnam, originally known as Aspinock, then part of Killingly, is a New England mill town incorporated in 1855. Created from s ...

, in a Lithuanian Roman Catholic cemetery; he was reburied in

Petrašiūnai Cemetery Petrašiūnai Cemetery ( lt, Petrašiūnų kapinės) is Lithuania's premiere last resting place formally designated for graves of people influential in national history, politics, arts, and science. Location Petrašiūnai Cemetery is located abo ...

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Tra ...

in 1999. The same year he was posthumously awarded the

Order of the Cross of Vytis The Order of the Cross of Vytis ( lt, Vyčio Kryžiaus ordinas) is a Lithuanian presidential award conferred for heroic defence of Lithuania's freedom and independence. November 23 is a holiday in honour of the Order of the Cross of Vytis. Histo ...

. Documentary ''Vilties prezidentas'' (''The President of Hope'') was produced by Vytautas V. Landsbergis in 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lozoraitis, Stasys 1924 births 1994 deaths Deaths from liver failure Lithuanian politicians Lithuanian diplomats Baltic diplomatic missions Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Vytis 20th-century Lithuanian politicians Burials at Petrašiūnai Cemetery