Dayton Seymour Mak (July 10, 1917 – March 16, 2018) was an American diplomat who served posts in England, Libya, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Germany. He was the first U.S.
Chargé d'Affaires
A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...
of Kuwait. Mak was also former Director of the
Bureau of Intelligence and Research, for Near East South Asia Affairs.
Biography
Mak was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on July 10, 1917, but was raised in
Iowa. Mak served in the
United States Army during
World War II between 1941 and 1945. He was awarded two
Purple Hearts and one
Bronze Star. In 1946, Mak joined the Foreign Service, serving as Vice Consul in
Hamburg, Germany,
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia,
Jidda
Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's promi ...
, Saudi Arabia, and
Tripoli, Libya. In 1962, Mak became the first U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait and was responsible for establishing the embassy. In 1969, Mak became the director of
INR for near-east south Asia Affairs. Mak officially retired from the Foreign Service in 1970. Mak was close friends with
Francis Meloy, US Ambassador who was assassinated in
Beirut, Lebanon. Meloy was best man at Mak's wedding.
Beginning in the late 1980s, Mak volunteered to help the newly create Association for Diplomatic Studies (later Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, or ADST). He conducted a few interviews for oral histories before beginning to create tables of contents for the oral history collection. Mak continued his volunteer service to ADST until 2014.
Service chronology
Publications
Co-author, ''American Ambassadors in a Troubled World: Interviews with American Diplomats'' (1992, interviews, with
Charles Stuart Kennedy)
Peer reviewer, ''Strangers When We Met'' (Nat Howell)
See also
*
Francis Meloy, the US ambassador of Lebanon who was assassinated.
*
Charles Stuart Kennedy, American historian
References
1917 births
2018 deaths
American expatriates in Kuwait
American expatriates in the United Kingdom
American expatriates in Libya
American expatriates in Lebanon
American expatriates in Saudi Arabia
American expatriates in Germany
American men centenarians
United States Army personnel of World War II
People from Sioux Falls, South Dakota
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