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Embassy of Lithuania in Washington, D.C.
Embassy of Lithuania in Washington, D.C.
	Embassy of Lithuania in 2023
Location	Washington, DC, United States
Address	2622 16th Street NW, Washington, DC.
Coordinates	38°55′26″N 77°02′14″W / 38.92389°N 77.03722°W
Ambassador	Audra Plepytė

Embassy of Lithuania in Washington, D.C., is the diplomatic mission of the Republic of Lithuania to the United States. It is located at 2622 16th Street Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Meridian Hill neighborhood.^[1]

Building

The building was designed by architect George Oakley Totten Jr. It was built in 1909 by Senator John B. Henderson and his wife Mary Foote Henderson. In 1924, Lithuania bought the building for $90,000.^[2] 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 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.^[2]

History

After World War I, Lithuania regained independence from the Russian Empire and opened legations to establish independent diplomatic representation. At the time, the legation was the standard form of diplomatic mission, and only Great Powers established embassies in each other's capitals. Although Lithuania was occupied and 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 occupied by the Soviet Union. By 1990, the Baltic legations were the last remaining legations in Washington, D.C.^[3] In 1991, an independent Lithuania finally upgraded its legation to an embassy.

Ambassadors

The ambassador of Lithuania in Washington, D.C. is the representative of the Lithuanian government for the US government.^[4]

Diplomatic agrément	Diplomatic accreditation	Ambassador	Observations	President of Lithuania	President of the United States	Term end
October 11, 1922			Legation opened.	Aleksandras Stulginskis	Warren G. Harding
October 11, 1922		Voldemaras Vytautas Čarneckis [lt]	Chargé d'affaires	Aleksandras Stulginskis	Warren G. Harding
December 11, 1923		Kazys Bizauskas	Chargé d'affaires	Aleksandras Stulginskis	Calvin Coolidge
August 6, 1924		Kazys Bizauskas		Aleksandras Stulginskis	Calvin Coolidge
November 2, 1928		Bronius Kazys Balutis		Antanas Smetona	Calvin Coolidge
August 21, 1935		Povilas Žadeikis		Antanas Smetona	Franklin D. Roosevelt
May 11, 1957		Juozas Kajeckas [lt]	Chargé d'affaires	–	Dwight D. Eisenhower
January 1, 1977		Stasys Antanas Bačkis	Chargé d'affaires	–	Jimmy Carter
November 15, 1987		Stasys Lozoraitis Jr.	Chargé d'affaires	–	Ronald Reagan
September 2, 1991			President Bush announced that the US was prepared to immediately establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of Lithuania	Vytautas Landsbergis	George H. W. Bush
November 5, 1991			Dept informed that the Government of Lithuania wished to raise Legation to Embassy Dept agreed Nov 19	Vytautas Landsbergis	George H. W. Bush
December 20, 1991	March 11, 1992	Stasys Lozoraitis Jr.		Vytautas Landsbergis	George H. W. Bush
November 24, 1993	December 9, 1993	Alfonsas Eidintas		Algirdas Brazauskas	Bill Clinton
September 30, 1997	November 12, 1997	Stasys Sakalauskas		Algirdas Brazauskas	Bill Clinton
March 7, 2001	March 13, 2001	Vygaudas Ušackas		Valdas Adamkus	George W. Bush
February 26, 2007	February 27, 2007	Audrius Brūzga [lt]		Valdas Adamkus	George W. Bush
August 5, 2010	August 10, 2010	Žygimantas Pavilionis		Dalia Grybauskaitė	Barack Obama
August 6, 2015	September 17, 2015	Rolandas Kriščiūnas [lt]		Dalia Grybauskaitė	Barack Obama	July 22, 2019
April 21, 2021	May 18, 2021	Audra Plepytė		Gitanas Nausėda	Joe Biden

^[5]^[6]

References

^ "Embassy.org: The Embassy of Lithuania". www.embassy.org.
^ ^a ^b Jonušauskas, Laurynas (2003). Likimo vedami: Lietuvos diplomatinės tarnybos egzilyje veikla 1940–1991 (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Lietuvos gyventojų genocido ir rezistencijos tyrimo centras. pp. 303–305. ISBN 9986-757-56-8.
^ U.S. Department of State (February 1990). Diplomatic List. U.S. Government Printing Office.
^ "The Embassy". Embassy of Lithuania in Washington, D.C. 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
^ Chief of Protocol, [1]
^ "Ambassador". Embassy of Lithuania in Washington, D.C. 2014-10-07. Retrieved 2015-02-14.