John Ernest Dolibois ( né Jean Ernst Dolibois; December 4, 1918 – May 2, 2014) was a

United States Ambassador to Luxembourg The United States Ambassador to Luxembourg oversees the U.S. Embassy in that country. They supervise the embassy staff in the conduct of diplomatic relations with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and coordination of the activities of U.S. Governmen ...

and college administrator. A native of

Bonnevoie Bonnevoie ( lb, Bouneweg, german: Bonneweg) is an area of south-eastern Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is divided between the quarters of North Bonnevoie-Verlorenkost and South Bonnevoie. It is the biggest neighbourhood in the ci ...

, Luxembourg, Dolibois emigrated to the United States with his father in 1931. He graduated from

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...

, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi, and served in the United States Army 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 opposing ...

. He was a member of the so-called

Ritchie Boys The Ritchie Boys were a special collection of soldiers, with sizable numbers of German-Austrian recruits, of Military Intelligence Service officers and enlisted men of World War II who were trained at Camp Ritchie in Washington County, Maryland. ...

, a special military intelligence unit composed mainly of German, Austrian, and Czech refugees and immigrants to the United States. He used to teach German order of battle and

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

hierarchy to army officers preparing to go off to war. He was an interrogator during the

Nuremberg trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded m ...

and became acquainted with many of the most significant

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 ...

war criminals. He was sent to

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

to interrogate the highest ranking war criminals in Nazi Party. After a brief career with

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

, he returned to Miami as alumni secretary, eventually becoming Vice President. He was instrumental in the development of the

Miami University Dolibois European Center Miami University Dolibois European Center (sometimes called the Miami University John E. Dolibois European Center or simply MUDEC) is an overseas campus of Miami University based in Differdange, Luxembourg. Located in the southwestern part of ...

in Luxembourg which is named in his honor. Dolibois was a frequent speaker to students and other groups about his experiences during the Nuremberg trials. In 1989, his autobiography, ''Pattern of Circles. An Ambassador's Story,'' was published by Kent State University Press. Dolibois died on May 2, 2014, in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

, at the age of 95.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dolibois, John E. 1918 births 2014 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Luxembourg Miami University alumni Luxembourgian emigrants to the United States United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II Ritchie Boys 20th-century American diplomats

See also

References

External links