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

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 internati ...

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

Early life

Edelstam was born on 21 July 1924 in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of the permanent undersecretary and chamberlain Fabian Edelstam and Hilma (née Dickinson). He was the brother of diplomat

Harald Edelstam Gustav Harald Edelstam (March 17, 1913 – April 16, 1989) was a Swedish diplomat. During World War II he earned the nickname ''Svarta nejlikan'' ("the Black Pimpernel," a reference to the Scarlet Pimpernel) for helping hundreds of Norwegian Je ...

. 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 of Law (Latin: ''candidatus/candidata juris/iuris'') is both a graduate law degree awarded to law students in the Nordic region as well as an academic status designation for advanced Law School students in German-speaking countries. N ...

degree in 1949 before becoming an attaché at the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

the same year.

Career

Edelstam served in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in 1950, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 1951 and at the Foreign Ministry in 1953. He was acting second secretary in 1957 (temporary in 1955) and acting first legation secretary at the delegation of the

Organisation for European Economic Co-operation The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

(OEEC) in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

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

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

in 1967 and held the position as ambassador from 1970. Edelstam was 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 ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

and Nicosia, from 1976 to 1981 and ambassador in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in 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 estimated populatio ...

Vientiane Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

from 1981 to 1983. Edelstam was then ambassador in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

Thimphu Thimphu (; dz, ཐིམ་ཕུག ) 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 ci ...

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

and

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Nepal, Province , subdivision_name1 ...

from 1983 to 1987 and ambassador in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

from 1987 to 1989. Edelstam was head of

Swedish Road Administration The Swedish Road Administration ( sv, Vägverket), formerly The Royal Board for Public Road and Water Structures, was a Government agency in Sweden. Its primary responsibility was to organise building and maintenance of the road network in Sweden ...

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

Borlänge Borlänge is a locality in Dalarna County, Sweden with 44,898 inhabitants as of 2020. It is the seat of the Borlänge Municipality with a total population of 51,604 inhabitants as of 2017. History Originally Borlänge was the name of a ti ...

for the Liberal People's Party and was for a period chairman of the

Swedish Pensioners' Association The Swedish Pensioners' Association ( sv, Sveriges Pensionärsförbund, SPF) is a non-profit, politically and religiously independent, association of pensioners in Sweden, founded in 1939. It was initially called (SFRF) but changed to its present ...

in Borlänge.

Personal life

In 1947, Edelstam married Gloria Horstmann. They divorced and in 1954 he married Ingrid Salén (born 1927), the daughter of lawspeaker Torsten Salén 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 and was buried on 3 September 2012 at

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 Mu ...

cemetery.

References