Stasys Antanas Bačkis

Stasys Antanas Bačkis (10 February 1906 – 10 November 1999) was a Lithuanian diplomat and civil servant who served as an assistant in the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1930 until 1938, Head of the Lithuanian Embassy in Paris and later Head of the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service in Washington D.C. from 1983 until 1987.

A graduate of the University of Paris, Bačkis became an employee of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1930. In 1938, he was stationed at the Lithuanian embassy in Paris. After the occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union in June 1940, Lithuanian diplomats did not recognize the new Soviet government and established the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service that functioned in conditions of exile, continued to represent independent Lithuania, and preserved the legal continuity of the state. After the arrest of ambassador Petras Klimas, Bačkis actively headed the unofficial Lithuanian embassy in Paris until 1960 when he relocated to Washington, D.C. After the death of Stasys Lozoraitis, Bačkis was the chief of the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service from 1983 until his return to Paris in 1988. Bačkis was the father of Cardinal Audrys Juozas Bačkis.

Biography Early life and career Bačkis was in born in Pantakoniai, Kovno Governorate, Russian Empire. After graduation from the Panevėžys Gymnasium, he received a stipend form the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and attended the University of Paris where he studied law and political science. In 1946, the first European basketball championship after the war was held – EuroBasket 1946 in Geneva, Switzerland.