Hugo Tamm with Yitzhak Ben-Zvi and Golda Meir after presenting his credential

Nils Hugo Withmar Tamm (5 September 1903 – 9 September 1990) was a Swedish

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. Tamm served as Swedish consul general 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 ...

1953–1959 and ambassador in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

1960–1963 as well as ambassador in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

1964–1966.

Early life

Tamm was born on 5 September 1903 in Svennevad,

Hallsberg Municipality Hallsberg Municipality (''Hallsbergs kommun'') is a municipality in Örebro County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Hallsberg. The present municipality was created in 1971 when the market town (''köping'') of Hallsberg was a ...

, Sweden, the son of Gustaf Tamm, a forester, and his wife Elisabeth (née Broberg). He was the grandson of a landowner and politician Hugo Tamm. Tamm passed ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968 ...

'' at

Lundsbergs boarding school Lundsbergs boarding school ( sv, Lundsbergs skola) is a Swedish boarding school located in the Parish of Storfors north of Kristinehamn in Värmland, Sweden. Lundsberg was founded in 1896 with inspirations from classical English boarding schools, ...

in 1922 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

in 1925 and a Candidate of Law in 1929.

Career

Tamm did his clerkship from 1929 to 1930 and studied at the Université des Hautes Etudes Internationales in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

from 1931 to 1932 and became an attaché at the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateralism, bilateral, and multilateralism, multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citi ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

in 1932. Tamm served in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

in 1932,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 1934,

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

in 1935 and at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm in 1937. He became second secretary in 1938 and served as second legation secretary in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in 1939. Tamm served as second vice consul in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1940 and acting consul general in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 1941 and first vice consul in New York City in 1942. Tamm was first secretary at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm in 1945 and first legation secretary and acting

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 ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

in 1945. He was then legation counsellor in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

in 1948 and in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

in 1949 as well as consul general in

from 1953 to 1959. Tamm was ambassador in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

from 1960 to 1963 and envoy in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

from 1964 to 1966. He returned to Stockholm and the Foreign Ministry in 1966 and was then technical adviser at the Swedish

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

delegation in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

from 1967 to 1971.

Personal life

In 1939 he married Adrine-Lusina "Addy" Chahbaz (1904–1991) of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. Tamm died on 9 September 1990 in Paris and is buried with his wife at Löts Cemetery in

Enköping Municipality Enköping Municipality (''Enköpings kommun'') is a municipality in Uppsala County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Enköping. The present municipality consists of nearly forty original local government units. They were ...

Awards and decorations

*Commander 1st Class of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

(1971) (Knight 1952; Commander 1964)Sveriges Ordenskalender *Commander of the Order of Merit of Argentina (Orden Al Mérito) *Officer of the Order of the Crown *Knight of the

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland ( fi, Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Vita Ros’ orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. ...

*Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

*Knight First Class of the

Order of George I The Royal Order of George I ( el, Βασιλικόν Τάγμα Γεωργίου Α') is a Greek order instituted by King Constantine I in 1915. Since the monarchy's abolition in 1973, it has been considered a dynastic order of the former Greek r ...

King Christian X's Liberty Medal King Christian X's Liberty Medal ( da, Kong Christian den Tiendes frihedsmedaille) was a commemorative decoration awarded by King Christian X for special services to Denmark during World War II. Appearance The medal is circular and made of silver. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamm, Hugo 1903 births 1990 deaths Consuls-general of Sweden Ambassadors of Sweden to Israel Ambassadors of Sweden to South Africa People from Hallsberg Municipality Commanders First Class of the Order of the Polar Star Tamm family