Harald Edelstam: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox ambassadorofficeholder

| office1 = [[List of ambassadors of Sweden's to Algeria|Ambassador of Sweden to Algeria]]

| office2 = Sweden's Ambassador of Sweden to Chile

| office3 = Sweden's Ambassador of Sweden to Guatemala

| office4 = Sweden's Ambassador of Sweden to Indonesia

| spouse = Louise von Rosen {{marriage||1939|1958}}<br/>Natascha Michéew {{marriage||1959|1963}}<br/>Christine Colmain {{marriage||1981|}}

'''Gustav Harald Edelstam''' (March 17, 1913 – April 16, 1989) was a [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[diplomat]]. During [[World War II]] he earned the nickname ''Svarta nejlikan'' ("the Black Pimpernel," a reference to the [[The Scarlet Pimpernel|Scarlet Pimpernel]]) for helping hundreds of Norwegian Jews, [[Special Operations Executive|SOE]] agents, and saboteurs escape from the Germans. During the early 1970s he was stationed in [[Santiago, Chile]], and became known as the "[[Raoul Wallenberg]] of the 1970s" when he helped over 1,200 Chileans, hundreds of Cuban diplomats and civilians, and 67 Uruguayan and Bolivian refugees escape persecution by dictator [[Augusto Pinochet]].<ref>{{Cite webjournal|url=https://wwwdu.erlacsdiva-portal.org/articlessmash/abstractget/10.18352/erlacs.9646diva2:520465/FULLTEXT02|title=Los asilados de las embajadas de Europa Occidental en Chile tras el golpe militar y sus consecuencias diplomáticas: El caso de Suecia|last=Camacho Padilla|first=Fernando|datejournal=European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies &#124; Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe |websiteissue=81 |page=21 |publication-date=2006|doi=10.18352/erlacs.9646|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref>

Harald Edelstam was born in [[Stockholm]], Sweden, and was the son of chamberlain Fabian Edelstam and Hilma Dickinson.<ref name="Vem är det (1984), p. 252">{{cite book |date=1984 |title=Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1985 |trans-title=Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1985 |location=Stockholm |publisher=Norstedt |language=Swedish |isbn=91-1-843222-0 |url=httphttps://runeberg.org/vemardet/1985/0252.html |page=252}}</ref> He was the older brother of the ambassador [[Axel Edelstam]] and grandson of member of parliament [[Ernst Edelstam]]. Edelstam passed ''[[studentexamen]]'' in 1933 and earned a [[Candidate of Law]] degree in Stockholm in 1939 before becoming employed as an attaché at the [[Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)|Ministry for Foreign Affairs]] in Stockholm the same year.<ref name="Harnesk (1962), p. 299">{{cite book |editor1-last=Harnesk |editor1-first=Paul |date=1962 |title=Vem är vem? 1, Stor-Stockholm |trans-title=Who is who? 1, Greater Stockholm |edition=2nd |location=Stockholm |publisher=Vem är vem |language=Swedish |url=httphttps://runeberg.org/vemarvem/sthlm62/0323.html |page=299}}</ref>

HeHarald Edelstam served in [[Rome]] in 1939 and the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm in 1940, in [[Berlin]] in 1941, and in [[Oslo]] in 1942 where Edelstam became acting Second Vice Consul in 1944.<ref name="Harnesk (1962), p. 299"/> As a diplomat in [[German occupation of Norway|Nazi-occupied Norway]], Edelstam saved the lives of hundreds of [[History of the Jews in Norway|Jews]] and anti-[[Vidkun Quisling|Quisling]] [[Norwegian resistance movement|freedom fighters]].

He was acting Second Secretary at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm in 1944 and was Secretary to the [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]] from 1946 to 1948. Edelstam was Second Secretary at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm in 1946, acting First Secretary in 1948 and First Legation Secretary in [[The HaugeHague]] in 1949 and in [[Warsaw]] in 1952. He was then First Secretary at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm in 1953 and acting Director there in 1956. In 1958 Edelstam was sent to [[Vienna]] as Embassy Counsellor and in 1962 to [[Istanbul]] as Consul General.<ref name="Harnesk (1962), p. 299"/> He stayed in Istanbul until 1965 and was thereafter ambassador in [[Jakarta]], also accredited to [[Manila]] from 1966 to 1968. Edelstam was then sent to [[Central America]] where he was ambassador in [[Guatemala City]], also accredited to [[Managua]], [[San José, Costa Rica|San José]], [[San Salvador]], and [[Tegucigalpa]] from 1969 to 1972. In 1972 he was sent to [[Santiago de Chile]] as ambassador.<ref name="Vem är det (1984), p. 252"/>

After the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 military coup]] against [[Chile]]an President [[Salvador Allende]], the [[Cuba]]n Embassy was under fire by tanks and Cubans were returning fire from the windows; Edelstam took a Swedish flag in hand and walked in front of the tanks as bullets hurled past. He fetched the Cubans out of the embassy and took them to the Swedish Embassy, then got them out of Chile to safety.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.commonwealthclub.org/archive/20thcentury/81-11baez-speech.html |publisher=[[Commonwealth Club of California]] |title=Joan Baez: Human Rights In The 80s: Seeing Through Both Eyes |deadurlurl-status=yesdead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926212411/http://www.commonwealthclub.org/archive/20thcentury/81-11baez-speech.html |archivedatearchive-date=2007-09-26 |df= }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=April 2016}}</ref> After the incident, the Cuban Embassy in Santiago de Chile remained under Swedish [[protecting power]] for 18 years until 1991.<ref name="Johnsson (2008)">{{cite web |url=http://sverigesradio.se/topsy/ljudfil/1103624-mp3 |publisher=[[Sveriges Radio]] |work=[[P3 Dokumentär]] |title=Harald Edelstam |first=Fredrik |last=Johnsson |format=MP3 |date=13 April 2008 |access-date=13 April 2016 |language=Swedish}}</ref> Prime Minister [[Olof Palme]] gave him all his support.<ref>{{Cite webjournal|url=https://www.academia.edu/6385654/Las_relaciones_entre_Chile_y_Suecia_durante_el_primer_gobierno_de_Olof_Palme_1969-1976|title=Las relaciones entre Chile y Suecia durante el primer gobierno de Olof Palme, 1969-1976|last=Camacho Padilla|first=Fernando|datejournal=Iberoamericana |year=2007|websitevolume=7 |doi=10.18441/ibam.7.2007.25.65-85|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref>

The Chilean military regime did not appreciate Edelstam’sEdelstam's engagement and declared him ''[[persona non grata]]'' in decemberDecember 1973.<ref name="Johnsson (2008)"/> Edelstam came back to Stockholm and was available for the Foreign Minister during 1974 before being sent as ambassador to [[Algiers]]<ref name="Vem är det (1984), p. 252"/> on the advice of Edelstam's greatest enemy, diplomat [[Wilhelm Wachtmeister]].<ref name="Johnsson (2008)"/> He left the position and retired in 1979.<ref name="Vem är det (1984), p. 252"/>

He was married 1939-19581939–1958 to Countess Louise von Rosen (born 1918), the daughter of Count [[Hans von Rosen]] and Dagmar (née Wikström)<ref name="Vem är det (1984), p. 252"/> and 1959-19631959–1963 to Natascha Michéew.<ref name="Harnesk (1962), p. 299"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://gw.geneanet.org/jgranath?lang=sv&p=gustaf%2Bharald&n=edelstam&oc=0 |publisher=Geneanet |website=www.gw.geneanet.org |title=Gustaf Harald* Edelstam |first=Jan |last=Granath |access-date=13 April 2015 |language=Swedish}}</ref> Edelstam married a third time in 1981 with Christine Colmain.<ref name="Vem är det (1984), p. 252"/> In the marriage with von Rosen he had three sons: Carl (born 1941), Hans (born 1943) and Erik (born 1946).<ref name="Harnesk (1962), p. 299"/> Edelstam died from cancer in 1989.

Edelstam's awards*[[File:Order of the Polar Star - Ribbon bar, pre 1975.svg|50px]] {{flagicon|Sweden}} Knight of the [[Order of the Polar Star]]<ref name="Harnesk (1962), p. 299"/>

*Knight{{flagicon|Thailand}} Officer of the [[Order of the DannebrogWhite Elephant]]<ref name="Harnesk (1962), p. 299"/>

{{Succession box |title=Consul general of Sweden in Istanbul |before=[[Bo Alander]] |years=1962–1965 |after=[[Pierre Bothén]]}}

{{Succession box |title=Ambassador of Sweden to Indonesia |before=[[Louis De Geer (1910–1987)|Louis De Geer]] |years=1966–1968 |after=[[Karl Henrik Andersson]]}}

{{Succession box |title=Ambassador of Sweden to Guatemala |before=[[Arne Björnberg]] |years=1969–1972 |after=[[Claës König (1913–2012)|Claës König]]}}

{{Succession box |title=Ambassador of Sweden to Nicaragua |before=?Arne Björnberg |years=1969–1972 |after=?Claës König}}

{{Succession box |title=Ambassador of Sweden to Costa Rica |before=?Arne Björnberg |years=1969–1972 |after=?Claës König}}

{{Succession box |title={{no wrap|Ambassador of Sweden to El Salvador}} |before=?Arne Björnberg |years=1969–1972 |after=?Claës König}}

{{Succession box |title=Ambassador of Sweden to Honduras |before=?Arne Björnberg |years=1969–1972 |after=?Claës König}}

{{Succession box |title=Ambassador of Sweden to Chile |before=[[Louis De Geer (1910–1987)|Louis De Geer]] |years=1972–1973 |after=[[Carl-Johan Groth]]}}

{{Succession box |title=[[List of ambassadors of Sweden to Algeria|Ambassador of Sweden to Algeria]] |before=[[Jean-Jacques von Dardel]] |years=1974–1979 |after=[[Stig Brattström]]}}

[[Category:SwedishAmbassadors humanitariansof Sweden to Mali]]