diplomat

14May

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Noteworthy, Profiles, United States

Mohammad Riad Hussain Ismat, writer and diplomat

Mohammad Riad Hussain Ismat ‑ a Syrian writer, critic and theatre director – died on 13 May 2020. Ismat served as Minister of Culture of Syria from 3 October 2010 to 23 June 2012. Ismat studied English literature at the Damascus University and graduated in 1968. In 2000, he became Rector of the Academy of Dramatic Arts, after years of teaching. In 2003, Ismat became Director General of Syrian State Radio and Television, then held the post of Syrian Vice-Minister of Culture. In 2005, he was appointed Ambassador to Pakistan and in 2010, Syrian Ambassador to Qatar. In October 2010, Ismat was appointed as Minister of Culture, serving in that post until 23 June 2012. From 2013 to 2014 he served as Buffett Center Visiting Scholar at Northwestern University. Ismat has directed more than...

27Apr

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Argentina, High Profilers, Profiles

Laura Bernal, diplomat

Laura Bernal ‑ an Argentine diplomat – passed away on 26 April 2020 after contracting Covid-19. She served as Argentina's ambassador to Ireland from 2016 until her sudden death in 2020. She was present in the country for her compatriot Pope Francis's visit to Ireland as part of World Meeting of Families 2018. Bernal was from Buenos Aires. She died at her Rathmines home on 26 April 2020 and was found post-mortem to have contracted COVID-19. At the request of her sister and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bernal's body was not repatriated. Her funeral took place on 15 May at St Michael's parish church in Foxford and she was buried afterwards at nearby Craggagh Cemetery. Foxford is where Admiral William Brown (who founded the Argentine Navy) was born, hence ...

26Apr

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High Profilers, Japan, Profiles

Yukio Okamoto, diplomat

Yukio Okamoto a Japanese diplomat, diplomatic analyst, and proponent of strong economic and political Japan–United States relations died from pneumonia caused by novel COVID-19 at a Tokyo hospital on April 24, 2020, at the age of 75. Okamoto guided Japanese and American diplomatic relations throughout the 1980s, during an era when both countries simultaneously competed for economic influence on the global stage. He served as a diplomatic advisor and analyst for several Japanese prime ministers, including Ryutaro Hashimoto from 1996 to 1998 and Junichiro Koizumi from 2003 until 2004. Biography Okamoto was a native of Kanagawa Prefecture. He joined the Japanese Foreign Ministry in 1968, where he worked for more than 20 years. He was posted to diplomatic missions in Paris, Cair...

Erik Jean Christian Antoine Belfrage, diplomat and businessman

19Apr

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High Profilers, Profiles, Sweden

Erik Jean Christian Antoine Belfrage, diplomat and businessman

Erik Jean Christian Antoine Belfrage ‑ a Swedish diplomat, banking executive, and political consultant ‑ died at Saint Göran Hospital in Stockholm due to COVID‑19 on 18 April 2020. Belfrage was the son of diplomat Kurt-Allan Belfrage and his wife, Renée France Paule Puaux. His brother, Frank Belfrage, is an economist and diplomat. Belfrage graduated from Stockholm School of Economics in 1970. Belfrage worked in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs from 1970 to 1987 as a diplomat in Geneva, Washington, D.C., Bucharest, Beirut, and Paris. In 1987, he became vice president at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken and as an adviser to Investor AB. Belfrage also served as an advisor to Peter Wallenberg and the Wallenberg family between 1987 and 2012.

4Apr

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High Profilers, Profiles

Hans Prade, diplomat & politician

Hans Orlando Prade, a Surinamese diplomat and politician, died on 3 April 2020 due to coronavirus. After graduating from Leiden University, Prade returned to Suriname, and founded the short lived Nationale Volkspartij together with Ronald Venetiaan. Later Prade became a member of the Progressieve Nationale Partij. During the coup, Prade was a commentator on Suriname radio. Prade was the Surinamese ambassador to the Netherlands from 1981 to 1982. His political and undiplomatic statements were not appreciated by the regime and he was dismissed on 1 June 1982. In 1986, Prade became chairman of the Rekenkamer van Suriname [nl], a position which he held for about 10 years. In 1991, he tried to run for President of Suriname, but lost out to his former college friend Venetiaan. ...

3Apr

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High Profilers, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Philippines, Profiles

Bernardita Catalla, diplomat

Bernardita Leonido Catalla ‑ a Filipina career diplomat who was last appointed as the Philippine ambassador to Lebanon – passed away after suffering from Covid-19 on April 2, 2020. Prior to her posting in Lebanon, she was also assigned to Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Catalla was born on February 18, 1958 in Makati, then a part of the Province of Rizal. She graduated in 1979 from University of the Philippines Los Baños with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication arts. From 1987 to 1993, she studied at the University of the Philippines Diliman for her master's degree in communication research and in 1991, she graduated with a Master of Arts degree in development studies from the International Institute of Social Studies at Erasmus University Rotterda...

25Mar

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Noteworthy, Profiles, Switzerland

Steven Dick, diplomat

Steven Dick ‑ a British diplomat who was the deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Budapest – died from Covid-19 on 24 March 2020. Dick joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2008 and had served in Kabul and Riyadh. Dick arrived in Hungary in June 2019. He studied Hungarian in Pécs before receiving a secondment to the Hungarian Government. After a few weeks, he started his role in the Embassy in late November. On 25 March 2020, it was announced that Dick died from COVID-19 after having earlier tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. He was 37.

24Mar

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Noteworthy, Profiles, United Kingdom

Brian Crowe, diplomat

Sir Brian Crowe ‑ a British diplomat, who was Ambassador to Austria, 1989–1992 ‑ died on 23 March 2020 with COVID-19. He was born on 5 January 1938, the son of Eric Crowe, a diplomat, and Virginia Teusler. His grandfather was Sir Eyre Crowe. He was educated at Sherborne School and Magdalen College, Oxford.

Hossein Sheikholeslam, politician & diplomat

6Mar

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High Profilers, Iran, Profiles

Hossein Sheikholeslam, politician & diplomat

Hossein Sheikholeslam –an Iranian conservative politician and diplomat who was advisor to the foreign minister Javad Zarif – died on 5 March 2020 from coronavirus. He also was a member of the Seventh Islamic Parliament of Iran and previously the Iranian ambassador to Syria. Sheikholeslam was Assistant to the parliament Speaker Ali Larijani for the International Affairs. Sheikholeslam was one of the students/militants who held Americans hostage during the Iran hostage crisis. Sheikholeslam died from coronavirus disease 2019 on 5 March 2020.

28Feb

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Iran, Noteworthy, Profiles

Hadi Khosroshahi, cleric & diplomat

Seyyed Hadi Khosroshahi –an Iranian cleric and diplomat who served as the first Iranian Ambassador to the Vatican – died from Covid-19 on 27 February 2020. When he was 15 years old, Khosroshahi joined the leader of militant Fada'iyan-e Islam (Devotees of Islam), Sayyid Mojtaba Mir-Lohi, nicknamed Navvab Safavi. He was close to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Based on his interviews, in at least two cases, he sought Khomeini's approval for the assassination of the Islamic Republic's first President, Abolhassan Bani Sadr and Iran's last Queen Farah Pahlavi, both living in exile in Paris. Khomeini rejected the idea, Khosroshahi maintained. Khosroshahi was a prominent figure in the Qom Seminary and was a representative of Ayatollah Khomeini in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance afte...