Maurice Marshall Bernbaum (1910– March 8, 2008) was an American Career Foreign Service Officer who served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

(1960-1965) and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

(1965-1969). Bernbaum graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1931. He passed the Foreign Service exam in 1936 and later that year, became Vice Counsul in Vancouver. During his tenure as Ambassador to Ecuador, their President

Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy (24 August 1919 – 5 March 2004) was an Ecuadorian politician. Arosemena Monroy was elected as Vice President of Ecuador in 1960 and due to the ousting of President José María Velasco Ibarra, became List of head ...

was overthrown by the Military Junta of 1963 after criticizing the US government and insulting Bernbaum. His wife Betty Hahn Bernbaum was an

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

operator and philanthropist, whose emergency work after the

1949 Ambato earthquake The 1949 Ambato earthquake was a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that on August 5, 1949, struck Ecuador's Tungurahua Province southeast of its capital Ambato and killed 5,050 people. The nearby villages of Guano, Patate, Pelileo, and Pillaro ...

and

1967 Caracas earthquake The 1967 Caracas earthquake occurred in Caracas, Venezuela, and La Guaira, Vargas (state), Vargas on 29 July at 8:00 p.m (UTC−04:00 at that time). Its epicenter took place in the litoral central (20 km from Caracas) and lasted 35 seconds ...

was widely publicized.

References

{{US-diplomat-stub Ambassadors of the United States to Ecuador Ambassadors of the United States to Venezuela Harvard University alumni Consuls for the United States 1910 births 2008 deaths