Ernst ''Axel'' Edelstam (21 July 1924 – 17 August 2012) was a Swedish

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. He served in the foreign service for almost 40 years, including as ambassador to many different countries.

Early life

Edelstam was born on 21 July 1924 in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden, the son of the permanent undersecretary and chamberlain and Hilma (née Dickinson). He was the brother of diplomat Harald Edelstam. He passed ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968, ...

'' in 1944 and received a

Candidate of Law Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

degree in 1949 before becoming an attaché at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs the same year.

Career

Edelstam served in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1950,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in 1951, and at the Foreign Ministry in 1953. He was acting as second secretary in 1957 (temporarily in 1955) and as first legation secretary at the

Organisation for European Economic Co-operation The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. It is a forum whose member countries ...

(OEEC) delegation in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from 1959 to 1961. Edelstam was the first secretary of the Foreign Ministry in 1961. He was acting head of the disarmament delegation in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

in 1967 and held the position of ambassador from 1970. Edelstam was a foreign affairs councillor (''Utrikdesråd'') and acting head of the political department at the Foreign Ministry from 1972 to 1975 and was a member of the negotiating group from 1975 to 1976. He was ambassador in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

, and

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

from 1976 to 1981 and ambassador in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Vientiane Vientiane (, ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Laos. Situated on the banks of the Mekong, Mekong River at the Thailand, Thai border, it comprises the five urban districts of Vientiane Prefecture and had a population of 840,000 ...

, and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

from 1981 to 1983. Edelstam was then ambassador in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

Thimphu Thimphu (; ) is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's '' dzongkhags'', the Thimphu District. The ancient capital city of Punakha was replac ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, and

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

from 1983 to 1987 and in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

from 1987 to 1989. Edelstam was head of the

Swedish Road Administration The National Road Administration () was a government agency in Sweden. Its primary responsibility was to organise building and maintenance of the road network in Sweden. Its headquarters were located in Borlänge. History The agency was founded i ...

's international secretariat from 1989 to 1994. As retired, Edelstam was active as local, politician in

Borlänge Borlänge () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 44,898 inhabitants as of 2020. It is the seat of the Borlänge Municipality which as of 2017 had a total population of 51,604 inhabitants. History Originally Bor ...

for the Liberal People's Party and was for a period chairman of the Swedish Pensioners' Association in Borlänge.

Personal life

In 1947, Edelstam married Gloria Horstmann. They divorced, and in 1954, he married Ingrid Salén (born 1927), the daughter of law speaker and Hilda Elfström. He was the father of Ellinor (born 1948), Torsten (born 1954), and Anne (born 1957). He later married the American Mary Ann. Edelstam was a frequent skier and had a great interest in cultural issues, foreign policy, history, and literature.

Death

Edelstam died on 17 August 2012 in Stora Tuna,

Borlänge Municipality Borlänge Municipality () is a municipality in Dalarna County in central Sweden, with an area of 586.4 km2. The municipality has a population of 47,640 (2007). The municipal seat is Borlänge. The present municipality was created in 1971 whe ...

, Sweden. He was interred on 3 September 2012 in the family grave in

Brännkyrka Brännkyrka is a parish in South Stockholm, Sweden. The population is 36,572. Brännkyrka, at that time much larger in area, was amalgamated into the city of Stockholm in 1913. This area now constitutes the southern main part of Stockholm Muni ...

cemetery in southern

References