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Carl Jacob Burckhardt (September 10, 1891 – March 3, 1974) was a
Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internatio ...
diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internat ...
and
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
. His career alternated between periods of academic historical research and diplomatic postings; the most prominent of the latter were
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...
High Commissioner for the
Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...
(1937–39) and President of the
International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signator ...
(1945–48).


Biography

Burckhardt was born in
Basel Basel ( , ), also known as Basle ( ),french: Bâle ; it, Basilea ; rm, label= Sutsilvan, Basileia; other rm, Basilea . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zürich a ...
to Carl Christoph Burckhardt, a member of the patrician
Burckhardt Burckhardt, or (de) Bourcard in French, is a family of the Basel patriciate, descended from Christoph (Stoffel) Burckhardt (1490–1578), a merchant in cloth and silk originally from Münstertal, Black Forest, who received Basel citizenship i ...
family, and attended gymnasium in Basel and Glarisegg (in Steckborn). He subsequently studied at the universities of Basel,
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zü ...
, Munich, and Göttingen, being particularly influenced by professors Ernst Gagliardi and Heinrich Wölfflin. He gained his first diplomatic experience in the Swiss legation in
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...
from 1918 to 1922, a chaotic period following the collapse of
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...
. While there, he became acquainted with Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Burckhardt earned his doctorate in 1922, and then accepted an appointment with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which posted him to
Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, where he assisted in the resettlement of Greeks expelled from Turkey following Greece's 1922 defeat. He subsequently returned to Switzerland to pursue an academic career,. In 1926, he married Marie-Elisabeth de Reynold (1906-1989) a daughter of Swiss writer, historian, and right-wing political activist
Gonzague de Reynold Gonzague de Reynold (15 June 1880 – 9 April 1970) was a Swiss writer, historian, and right-wing political activist. Over the course of his six-decade career, he wrote more than thirty books outlining his traditionalist Catholic and Swiss natio ...
(1880-1970). One year later, he was appointed Privatdozent at the University of Zurich and in 1929 extraordinary professor of contemporary history. From 1932 to 1937 he was ordinary professor at the recently created
Graduate Institute of International Studies Graduate may refer to: Education * The subject of a graduation, i.e. someone awarded an academic degree ** Alumnus, a former student who has either attended or graduated from an institution * High school graduate, someone who has completed high ...
in Geneva. While there, he published in 1935 the first volume of his comprehensive biography of
Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...
, which would eventually be completed by the publication of the 4th volume in 1967. He returned to a diplomatic career in 1937, serving as the final League of Nations High Commissioner for the
Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...
from 1937 to 1939. In that position, he aimed to maintain the international status of Danzig guaranteed by the League of Nations, which brought him into contact with a number of prominent
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...
as he attempted to stave off increasing German demands. The mission eventually ended unsuccessfully with the
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
in September 1939. Burckhardt was placed under house arrest by the Nazi '' Gauleiter'' for Danzig
Albert Forster Albert Maria Forster (26 July 1902 – 28 February 1952) was a Nazi German politician, member of the SS and war criminal. Under his administration as the ''Gauleiter'' and ''Reichsstatthalter'' of Danzig-West Prussia (the other German-an ...
, and given two hours leave the city. Burckhardt then fled to Lithuania, and Nazi Germany would subsequently annex Danzig. Following this period as High Commissioner, he returned to his professorship in Geneva for the rest of World War II (1939–1945). While in that position, he was also active in a leading role in the ICRC, traveling to Germany several times to negotiate for better treatment of civilians and prisoners, in part using the contacts gained during his two years as High Commissioner in Danzig.


Involvement with Nazism

After the war, he became President of the ICRC, serving from 1945 to 1948. Organizationally, he increased the integration of the international Red Cross institutions and the national Red Cross Societies. Politically, his term was controversial as he maintained the ICRC's existing policy of strict neutrality in international disputes, which led to the ICRC refusing to condemn the Nazis as their atrocities came to light officially. His strong
anticommunism Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...
even led him to considering Nazism the lesser evil. He meanwhile simultaneously served from 1945 to 1949 as the Swiss envoy in Paris. He opposed the
Nuremberg trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded ...
, calling them “Jewish revenge.” Under his watch, the ICRC provided documents that helped many high-level Nazis, including
Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
''
Josef Mengele, escape Europe and evade justice for their war crimes in World War II.The Red Cross' stance during the war did not fully come to light until it opened its archives from the period in 1994. After 1949, he returned to his academic career, publishing a number of books on history over the next several decades. In 1954, he was awarded the
Peace Prize of the German Book Trade is an international peace prize awarded annually by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (English: ''German Publishers and Booksellers Association''), which runs the Frankfurt Book Fair. The award ceremony is held in the Paulskirche in ...
. He died in 1974 in
Vinzel Vinzel () is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. Geography Vinzel has an area, , of . Of this area, or 67.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 19.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or ...
. The slab of his grave at the cemetery of Vinzel bears an inscription:
"BENEDICTUS BENEDICAT" (“May the Blessed One give a blessing”)
The Christian message is commonly used as an opening
grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninc ...
of thanksgiving before a meal. However, the grave slab incorrectly attributes it to the
Epistle to the Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews ( grc, Πρὸς Ἑβραίους, Pros Hebraious, to the Hebrews) is one of the books of the New Testament. The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle. Most ...
(2,1).


Works

* ''Der Berner Schultheiss Charles Neuhaus'' (1925) * ''Richelieu'' (4 vols., 1935–67) * ''Gestalten und Mächte'' (1941) * ''Reden und Aufzeichnungen'' (1952) * ''Meine Danziger Mission, 1937–1939'' (1960) * ''GW'' (6 vols., 1971) * ''Memorabilien'' (1977) * ''Briefe: 1908–1974'' (1986)


References


Sources

* *


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burckhardt, Carl Jakob 1891 births 1974 deaths Carl Jakob 20th-century Swiss historians Swiss male writers Swiss diplomats Swiss Protestants Red Cross personnel League of Nations people Swiss anti-communists Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies faculty Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Ambassadors of Switzerland to France Writers from Basel-Stadt