News

On 25 March, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis extended his condolences over the death of the long-time Lithuanian Honorary Consul General in Toronto Haris Lapas.

“I am very saddened by the news of the death of H.Lapas. I deeply sympathize with the bereaved relatives and friends in this sad hour,” reads the Minister’s letter to the relatives.

H.Lapas, who passed away on 23 March, the city of Toronto, Canada, was a prominent figure of the Lithuanian diaspora in Canada and a patriot of his homeland. H.Lapas worked as Lithuania’s Honorary Consul General in Toronto from the very restoration of Lithuania’s Independence until 2004. He has considerably contributed to the Lithuanian-Canadian ties and to the development of bilateral relations. When Lithuania aimed to join NATO, he was spreading the information about Lithuania’s strategic goals and achievements in Canada.

H.Lapas was an active helper in the Lithuanian Embassy in Canada, who actively participated in organizing joint events.

H.Lapas was born in 1924, in the village Geniai, Pagėgiai district. In 1944, he graduated from Vytautas Magnus University. At the end of the Second World War, the family left Lithuania and he was given temporary shelter in a displaced persons camp in Germany, from where he immigrated to Canada in 1947. In 1965, he founded his own firm Lapas Consulting Engineers Ltd., which he headed for many years.

In 1999, President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus awarded H.Lapas with the Cross of Officer of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas