Maurice Marshall Bernbaum (1910– March 8, 2008) was an American Career Foreign Service Officer who served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ecuador (1960-1965) and Venezuela (1965-1969). Bernbaum graduated from Harvard University 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 President of ...

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

Betty Hahn Bernbaum Elizabeth "Betty" Hahn Bernbaum (March 20, 1918 – June 20, 2003) was an American ambassador's wife and writer. She was called "a ball of diplomatic fire" for her embassy activities. She was decorated by the President of Ecuador for her amateur ...

was an

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

operator and philanthropist, whose emergency work after the

1949 Ambato earthquake The 1949 Ambato earthquake was the deadliest earthquake in the Western Hemisphere in five years. On August 5, 1949, it struck Ecuador's Tungurahua Province southeast of its capital Ambato and killed 5,050 people. Measuring 6.4 on the sca ...

and

1967 Caracas earthquake The 1967 Caracas earthquake occurred in Caracas, Venezuela, and La Guaira, 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. It heavily a ...

was widely publicized.

References

{{US-diplomat-stub Ambassadors of the United States to Ecuador Ambassadors of the United States to Venezuela Harvard University alumni American consuls