Leolyn Dana Wilgress, (October 20, 1892 – July 21, 1969) was a Canadian diplomat. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Henry T. and Helene M. (Empev), Wilgress was educated in Vancouver, Yokohama

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Victoria and at McGill University. He married Olga Buergin on June 4, 1919 and they had three children. He was a Junior Trade Commissioner in 1914, Canadian Trade Commissioner,

Omsk Omsk (; rus, Омск, p=omsk) is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia, and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk ...

, Russia in 1916 and Trade Commissioner in Vladivostok in 1918. In early 1922, he was Trade Commissioner in Hamburg, Germany. He became Director of the Commercial Intelligence Service in Ottawa in 1932; was an adviser at the Ottawa Imperial Conference in 1932, an adviser at the World Economic Conference at London in 1933; a negotiator in Washington for Canada–U.S. Trade Agreement, 1936–1938. He was appointed Minister to the U.S.S.R. for the period 1942–1943. He was Canadian

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 ...

to the USSR from 1944 to 1946, and High Commissioner to London from 1949 to 1952. From 1952 to 1953 he was Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was Ambassador and permanent representative to the North Atlantic Council of NATO from 1953 to 1958, and representative to the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...

from 1953 to 1958. In 1953 he received a Doctor of Laws, ''

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

'' from the University of British Columbia and in 1967 was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. Wilgress died in 1969, and was interred in the Capital Memorial Gardens in Ottawa.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilgress, L. Dana 1892 births 1969 deaths Canadian Anglicans High Commissioners of Canada to the United Kingdom Companions of the Order of Canada McGill University alumni People from Vancouver Permanent Representatives of Canada to NATO Victoria College, Alexandria alumni