Jan Matthysen is a former Belgian ambassador to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Life

Matthysen graduated from

Ghent University Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

in 1973 with a degree in Contemporary Political History. Having joined the

Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The following is a list of those who have served as foreign ministers of Belgium. 1800s 1900s 2000s Timeline ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late DateFormat = yyy ...

in 1984, he became First Secretary at the Belgian Embassy in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, then Counselor at the Embassy in then

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

, a position which he held through the

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

in 1990. He was a chargé d'affaires and later ambassador in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

beginning in 1994. In 1997 he became Head of the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

desk at the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry in Brussels. From 1999 to 2000, he was the Acting Head of the General Directorate for Political-Military Affairs and a senior advisor on

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

to the United Nations Secretary General's Special Representative for the Balkans. In 2000, Matthysen moved to Ankara as ambassador to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

, and in 2004 he moved to Bangkok to become ambassador to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

and

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. Matthysen was appointed ambassador to the United States on 17 February 2009 and presented his credentials to United States President Barack Obama on 20 May 2009.Office of the Chief of Protocol
"Diplomatic Representation for Kingdom of Belgium"
United States Department of State. He stayed until 31 December 2013. In 2014 he was appointed President of the Belgian National Security Authority, and on 4 November 2014, advisor of

Princess Astrid of Belgium Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (born 5 June 1962), is the second child and first daughter of King Albert II and Queen Paola, and the younger sister to the current Belgian monarch, King Philippe. She is married to Pr ...

. Matthysen and his wife Agnes Aerts have five children. Jan Matthysen's brother

Hugo Matthysen Hugo Matthysen (born 30 January 1956, in Ekeren) is a Belgian (Flemish) singer, guitarist, columnist, writer, Master in Philosophy and actor. He lives in the municipality of Hove in Antwerp. Biography In 1978, he played with Bart Peeters and Ja ...

is a Belgian singer, songwriter and television scenarist.

Offices held

References

External links

Embassy biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthysen, Jan Ambassadors of Belgium to the United States Ambassadors of Belgium to Turkey Ambassadors of Belgium to Azerbaijan Ambassadors of Belgium to Turkmenistan Ambassadors of Belgium to Thailand Ambassadors of Belgium to Cambodia Ambassadors of Belgium to Laos Ambassadors of Belgium to Myanmar Living people Ghent University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)