Wilhelm Wachtmeister

Count Wilhelm Hans Fredrik Wachtmeister (29 April 1923 – 3 February 2012) was a Swedish career diplomat who served as the Swedish Ambassador to the United States for 15 years from 1974 to 1989, eventually becoming the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in 1986, as the longest-serving ambassador in the diplomatic corps in Washington, DC.

Early life

Wachtmeister was born on 29 April 1923 at Wanås Castle in Östra Göinge Municipality, Sweden, the son of cabinet chamberlain, Count Gustaf Wachtmeister and his wife Margaretha (née Trolle). He passed studentexamen at Sigtunaskolan Humanistiska Läroverket in 1941 and received as Candidate of Law degree from Stockholm University College in 1946 and was hired by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs as an attaché the same year.

Career

Wachtmeister served in Vienna in 1947, Madrid in 1949, Lisbon in 1950 and the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm in 1950. He became second secretary at the Foreign Ministry in 1952 and was appointed embassy secretary in Moscow in 1955. Wachtmeister was first secretary there in 1956. Wachtmeister's first prominent role within the diplomatic community was as U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld's personal assistant from 1958 to 1961. He was appointed Director (Byråchef) in 1962 and he was Deputy Head of the Political Department at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm from 1965 to 1966. Wachtmeister was ambassador in Algiers from 1966 to 1967 and served as Director (Utrikesråd) and Head of the Political Department at the Foreign Ministry from 1968 to 1974.