The Russian ambassador's residence | |
Location | 1125 16th Street NW Washington, D.C. |
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Coordinates | 38°54′16″N77°2′9″W / 38.90444°N 77.03583°W |
Built | 1910 |
Architectural style | Beaux-Arts |
Part of | Sixteenth Street Historic District |
Added to NRHP | 1978 |
The Russian ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C. historically known as the Mrs. George Pullman House, is located at 1125 16th Street Northwest, Washington, D.C. in the Downtown neighborhood. Until 1994, the building served as the Embassy of Russia (and Embassy of the Soviet Union).
Built in 1910, to the designs of architects Nathan C. Wyeth and Francis P. Sullivan, the Beaux-Arts mansion is designated as a contributing property to the Sixteenth Street Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. In addition, the building is listed on the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites.
Former occupants include Frank O. Lowden, Natalie Hammond (spouse of John Hays Hammond), and since 1913, Russian ambassadors to the United States.
Beginning in 1970, a vigil was held there, over Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union. [1]
In 1967, U.S. Navy communications specialist John Anthony Walker walked into the embassy. In 1980, Ronald Pelton, a National Security Agency communications analyst, walked into the Soviet Embassy. [2]
In 1989, during glasnost, Tom Clancy among others were invited to receptions there. [3]
Glasnost is a concept relating to openness and transparency. It has several general and specific meanings, including a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information and the inadmissibility of hushing up problems. It has been used in Russian to mean "openness and transparency" since at least the end of the 18th century.
Dupont Circle is a historic roundabout park and neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW to the west, M Street NW to the south, and Florida Avenue NW to the north. Much of the neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. However, the local government Advisory Neighborhood Commission and the Dupont Circle Historic District have slightly different boundaries.
Embassy Row is the informal name for a section of Northwest Washington, D.C., with a high concentration of embassies, diplomatic missions, and diplomatic residences. It spans Massachusetts Avenue N.W. between 18th and 35th street, bounded by Scott Circle to the south and the United States Naval Observatory to the north; the term is often applied to nearby streets and neighborhoods that also host diplomatic buildings, such as Kalorama.
Ronald William Pelton was a National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence analyst who was convicted in 1986 of spying for and selling secrets to the Soviet Union. One such top secret operation he compromised was Operation Ivy Bells.
The Baltic Way or Baltic Chain was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to form a human chain spanning 690 kilometres (430 mi) across the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which at the time were occupied and annexed by the USSR. The central government in Moscow considered the three Baltic countries constituent republics of the Soviet Union.
The January Events were a series of violent confrontations between the civilian population of Lithuania, supporting independence, and the Soviet Armed Forces. The events took place between 11 and 13 January 1991, after the restoration of independence by Lithuania. As a result of the Soviet military actions, 14 civilians were killed and over 140 were injured. 13 January, sometimes referred to as Bloody Sunday, was the most violent day. The events were primarily centered in the capital city Vilnius, but Soviet military activity and confrontations also occurred elsewhere in the country, including Alytus, Šiauliai, Varėna and Kaunas.
The Embassy of Russia in Washington, D.C. is the diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation to the United States. The chancery is located at 2650 Wisconsin Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C. The embassy oversees consulates in New York and Houston.
Spaso House is a listed Neoclassical Revival building at No. 10 Spasopeskovskaya Square in Moscow. It was originally built in 1913 as the mansion of the textile industrialist Nikolay Vtorov. Since 1933, it has been the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union, and since 1991, to the Russian Federation. The building belonged to the USSR and later Russia and, under the 1985 lease contract, the U.S. was supposed to pay 72,500 Soviet roubles per year, which by 2001 was the equivalent of about $3, which the U.S. had failed to pay in 1993. In 2004, the two sides concluded a new 49-year lease that was said to be based on a joint assessment of the property's value; the rent rate was not disclosed.
The Embassy of Australia in Moscow is the diplomatic mission of Australia to the Russian Federation. The current head of post and Ambassador of Australia to the Russian Federation is Graeme Meehan. The embassy serves as the diplomatic mission for Australia to the Russian Federation, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The chancery is located at 10A/2 Podkolokolny Lane in the Tagansky District of Moscow.
The Embassy of the United States of America in Moscow is the diplomatic mission of the United States of America in the Russian Federation. The current embassy compound is in the Presnensky District of Moscow, across the street from the White House and near the Moscow Zoo.
The Embassy of Turkey in Washington, D.C. is the diplomatic mission of the Republic of Turkey to the United States. It is located at 2525 Massachusetts Avenue, Northwest in the Embassy Row neighborhood.
The three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – were re-occupied in 1944–1945 by the Soviet Union (USSR) following the German occupation. The Baltic states regained independence in 1990–1991.
The Embassy of Tajikistan in Washington, D.C. is the Republic of Tajikistan's diplomatic mission to the United States. It is located at 1005 New Hampshire Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the West End neighborhood.
Embassy of Lithuania in Washington, D.C., is the diplomatic mission of the Republic of Lithuania to the United States. It is located at 2622 16th Street Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Adams Morgan neighborhood.
The French ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C. is located at 2221 Kalorama Road, N.W., in the Kalorama neighborhood of northwest Washington, D.C.
Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jews was the title of a national march and political rally that was held on December 6, 1987 in Washington, D.C. An estimated 250,000 participants gathered on the National Mall, calling for the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to extend his policy of Glasnost to Soviet Jews by putting an end to their forced assimilation and allowing their emigration from the Soviet Union. The rally was organized by a broad-based coalition of Jewish organizations. At the time, it was reported to be the "largest Jewish rally ever held in Washington."
The Embassy of the United States in Tallinn, Estonia, is located at the chancery building on Kentmanni Street. This building housed the U.S. legation to Estonia from April 1, 1930 until September 5, 1940. The U.S. Mission to Estonia resumed operations in the same building on February 6, 1992.
The Diplomatic Service of the Republic of Lithuania is the part of the governmental service tasked with enforcing the foreign policy set by the President, the Parliament, and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. The head of the service is the Foreign Minister.
Stasys Antanas Bačkis 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.
The Embassy of the Philippines in Moscow is the diplomatic mission of the Republic of the Philippines to the Russian Federation. Occupied since 1978, it is located on 6/8 Karmanitskiy Lane in the Arbat District of central Moscow, a short walk from the headquarters of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and near the former home of Alexander Pushkin and the residence of the Ambassador of the United States to Russia.