L. Dana Wilgress

Who was L. Dana Wilgress?

Leolyn Dana Wilgress, CC was a Canadian diplomat.

Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wilgress was educated in Vancouver, Japan, Victoria and at McGill University.

He was Canadian ambassador to the USSR from 1944 to 1946, and High Commissioner to London 1949-1952. 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 from 1953 to 1958.

In 1953 he received a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa 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.