Alfredas Kulpa-Kulpavičius (March 28, 1923 – May 16, 2007) was a Lithuanian architect and artist best known for his work on Canadian churches.

Biography

Kulpa-Kulpavičius was born in

Baisogala Baisogala is a small town in Lithuania. It is situated on the crossroads of Kėdainiai– Šeduva and Raseiniai– Šeduva roads. According to the 2011 census, it had 2,034 residents. History Baisogala is first mentioned in written sources in ...

. Between 1941 and 1943, he studied at

Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) ( lt, Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas (VDU)) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known ...

and from 1942-1943 at the Kaunas Institute of Applied Arts. In 1944, he moved to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and studied at

Leibniz University Hannover Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover (german: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität), also known as the University of Hannover, is a public research university located in Hanover, Germany. Founded on 2 May 1831 as Higher Vocational Sc ...

from 1946–1948, and the

Darmstadt Technical University Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse a ...

from 1948-1952. Beginning in 1952, he lived in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, where he established his architectural company in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. Kulpa-Kulpavičius was responsible for work on many buildings, many of them churches. These include Our Lady's Church,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

(1952), St. St. Casimir's Church,

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

and St. Gregory's Church, Toronto (1959), Lithuanian Martyrs' Church,

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

, Providence of God Church and Cultural Center,

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and St. Thomas Church,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(1978), Corporation Canadien Tire Building, Toronto (1979) etc. He was also the creator of small-scale architectural structures such as crosses and tombstones and built a collection of Canadian

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

stone sculptures. He returned to Lithuania in 2006.

References

1923 births 2007 deaths Lithuanian architects Lithuanian sculptors University of Hanover alumni Vytautas Magnus University alumni Lithuanian expatriates in Germany Lithuanian emigrants to Canada {{Lithuania-sculptor-stub