Carl-Erhard Axel Lindahl (born 26 April 1935) is a Swedish

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. Lindahl had a long diplomatic career spanning nearly four decades. Starting as an attaché in 1963, he served in various roles across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, including as ambassador to multiple countries such as Guatemala, Vietnam, and Peru. Notably, he contributed to Mozambique's foreign administration during a secondment in the late 1970s. From 1992 to 2001, he was stationed in Stockholm with ambassadorial responsibilities for numerous African nations.

Early life

Lindahl was born on 26 April 1935 in

Sölvesborg Sölvesborg is a locality and the seat of Sölvesborg Municipality in Blekinge County, Sweden with 10,024 inhabitants in 2013. Sölvesborg is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a ''city''. Statis ...

, Sweden, the son of Carl Lindahl, a merchant, and his wife Mildred (née Wikfeldt). On 15-20 August 1960, Lindahl, as a student at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

, was a Swedish delegate at the Student Movement for the United Nations annual conference in

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

. During his studies in Lund, he was also chairman of the Swedish Foreign Policy Association (''Utrikespolitiska föreningen''). He later earned a Master of Laws and Social Sciences (jur.pol.mag.) degree from Lund University in 1964.

Career

Lindahl began his career as an attaché at the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral rela ...

in 1963. He was posted to

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

from 1964 to 1965, served as an embassy secretary in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

from 1965 to 1968, and worked as an administrative officer (''kanslisekreterare''), at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs from 1968 to 1971. During this time, he also served with the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1970. From 1971 to 1976, he was first embassy secretary in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

, followed by a posting in

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

from 1976 to 1977, where he became an embassy counselor in 1977. He took a leave of absence from 1977 to 1979. Beginning on 1 August 1977, Lindahl was seconded to the Mozambican Ministry of Foreign Affairs in

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

, where he worked as an expert contributing to the establishment of Mozambique's foreign administration. In 1979, Lindahl was appointed deputy director (''kansliråd'') at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. He served as minister in

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

and

Managua Managua () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the List of largest cities in Central America, largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1, ...

from 1979 to 1981, and as ambassador to Guatemala City,

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa ( )—formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz''—is the capital and largest city of Honduras along with its sister city, Comaya ...

, Managua, and San José from 1981 to 1983. In 1983, he returned to Stockholm as ambassador, before serving in

Vientiane Vientiane (, ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Laos. Situated on the banks of the Mekong, Mekong River at the Thailand, Thai border, it comprises the five urban districts of Vientiane Prefecture and had a population of 840,000 ...

, Laos, from 1983 to 1984, and in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

as ambassador from 1985 to 1989. He was then ambassador to

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

and

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

from 1989 to 1992. From 1992 to 2001, Lindahl was stationed in Stockholm as an ambassador with responsibilities for several countries, including

Malabo Malabo ( , ; formerly ) is the capital of Equatorial Guinea in the province of Bioko Norte. It is located on the north coast of the island of Bioko (, and as ''Fernando Pó'' by the Europeans). In 2018, the city had a population of approxim ...

Bangui Bangui (; or Bangî in Sango language, Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in the Central African Republic, largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a Fren ...

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the Capital city, capital city of Cameroon. It has a population of more than 2.8 million which makes it the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre Region o ...

Libreville Libreville (; ) is the capital and largest city of Gabon, located on the Gabon Estuary. Libreville occupies of the northwestern province of Estuaire Province, Estuaire. Libreville is also a port on the Gabon Estuary, near the Gulf of Guinea. A ...

(from 1992),

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

Bissau Bissau () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. it had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, its administr ...

Praia Praia (, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.Conakry Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973. The current population of C ...

(1995–1996), and

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Chad, largest city of Chad. It is also a Provinces of Chad, special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements'', similar to the city of Paris. Originally calle ...

(from 1996).

Personal life

In 1988, Lindahl married Le Bich Hanh. He later married Ann Lindahl (born 1958).

References