Olov Arthur Ternström (1 February 1927 – 14 July 2001) was 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 ...

Early life

Ternström was born on 1 February 1927 in

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

, Sweden, the son of accountant Arthur Ternström and Astrid (née Andersson). He gained a degree in economics at the

Stockholm School of Economics The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE; , HHS) is a private business school located in city district Vasastaden in the central part of Stockholm, Sweden. SSE offers BSc, MSc and MBA programs, along with PhD- and Executive education progr ...

in 1949 and received the title of ''

civilekonom Civilekonom, literally "civil economist", is a professional title in Sweden (with corresponding titles in Denmark and Norway, see below) which traditionally refers to an individual who holds either a Bachelor's degree or a Master's degree in busi ...

''.

Career

Ternström worked in the Swedish General Export Association (''Sveriges allmänna exportförening'') from 1948 to 1957 before becoming 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 1957. Ternström served in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in 1958, was the secretary at the Foreign Ministry in 1961 and director at the Council for Swedish Information Abroad (''Upplysningsberedningen'') in 1961 which was a coordinating committee for overseas information. He was then consul in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 1964, press counsellor in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1967 and trade counsellor there in 1971. Ternström was deputy head of the Administration Department at the Foreign Ministry in 1973. He was ambassador in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

in 1976 and served in the Swedish United Nations delegation in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1978. Ternström was ambassador in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

and in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

from 1981 to 1986. In 1981, while Ternström was ambassador in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, he escaped unhurt after the Egyptian President

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...

was assassinated. He ended his diplomatic career by being ambassador in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

from 1986 to 1992. During this time, he held

dual accreditation Dual accreditation is the practice in diplomacy of a country granting two separate responsibilities to a single diplomat. One prominent form of dual accreditation is for a diplomat to serve as the ambassador to two countries concurrently. For examp ...

s to

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

and

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 ...

. Ternström worked as a special adviser to

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

from 1993 to 1994 and correspondent for ''

Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...

'' from 1994.

Personal life

Ternström was married twice. In 1955 he married Margareta Röningberg, the daughter of school teacher Erik Röningberg and sculptor Ingrid (née Geijer). In 1983 Ternström married Myrtle Langham. Towards the end of his life Ternström was a resident of

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Death

Ternström died on 14 July 2001 in

, England. On 28 March 2002, he was interred in Bromma Cemetery in Stockholm.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ternstrom, Olov 1927 births 2001 deaths Ambassadors of Sweden to Tunisia Ambassadors of Sweden to Egypt Ambassadors of Sweden to Sudan Ambassadors of Sweden to Thailand Ambassadors of Sweden to Laos Ambassadors of Sweden to Myanmar Stockholm School of Economics alumni Diplomats from Lund Swedish expatriates in England