Bernard Anthony Gufler (1 June 1903 – 6 September 1973) was a distinguished

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

diplomat and member of the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carryi ...

. In a long career he served in many postings abroad, including Ambassador to Ceylon and Ambassador to Finland.

Early life

He was born on 1 June 1903, in Lawrence city,

Douglas County, Kansas Douglas County (county code DG) is located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 118,785, making it the fifth-most populous county in Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Lawrence. Histor ...

, United States to a

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family. He obtained his early education from schools in

Topeka Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Un ...

and higher education from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

, and later on from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He was married to the former Dorothy 'Gretchen' Van Ness in December 1937.

Career

He joined the United States Foreign Service in 1929 and served in postings in Canada,

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

during the years before and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was US chief of mission in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, during 1955–58. He was US consul in Colombo, Ceylon, c. 1951 to 1953. He was US ambassador to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from 1959 to 1961 and ambassador to Finland from 1961 to 1963. He retired from service in 1968 and died of a sudden heart attack, while visiting

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, Germany, on 6 September 1973. Gufler's role as a diplomat acting in the U.S. interests, at many levels, cannot be underestimated. In the later years of World War II and early Cold War, he was instrumental in recommending that ex-

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

POW generals and senior military officers be 'won over' to serve American (and Allied) intelligence interests in Europe, especially

. President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

used Gufler to deliver to Finnish president

Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as Prime Minister ...

a secret message during the

Note Crisis The Note Crisis ( fi, noottikriisi, sv, notkrisen) was a political crisis in Soviet–Finnish relations in 1961. The Soviet Union sent Finland a diplomatic note on October 30, 1961, referring to the threat of war and West German militarizatio ...

. During the peak of the Cold War in Berlin, he is remembered by other senior diplomats as the 'de facto ambassador' , in fact running the United States mission effectively, in 'counterpoise' to

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

actions and intentions. About his role in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

a Pakistani senior diplomat commented that his services were 'invaluable' in promoting the United States' positive image and winning people 'towards realizing the Cold War imperatives' as espoused by the Americans.See S. Irtiza Husain ''Gher Kinaro Pe'' (Urdu: On Alien Shores, Memoirs of an early Pakistani diplomat, 1947-1967) pub

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

:Savan Publishers Ltd, 1972, p. 163 and p. 178. Husain mentions Gufler by name, and makes much of his promoting a positive US image among people in the non-aligned Ceylon/Sri Lanka, and in also covertly promoting US relations with Pakistan, via his connections to senior Pakistani diplomats such as HE Mr Salim Khan, aa, and others. Husain also claims that Gufler and Salim Khan played a special role in convincing the Pakistani military commander-in-chief and later dictator, General

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

to visit the USA and to eventually develop a strong pro-USA and anti-Soviet policy in Pakistan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gufler, Bernard Anthony 1903 births 1973 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Finland Ambassadors of the United States to Sri Lanka Princeton University alumni United States Foreign Service personnel 20th-century American diplomats

Early life

Career

See also

References