Albert Ehrensvärd

Johan Jakob Albert Ehrensvärd (9 May 1867 – 6 March 1940) was a Swedish diplomat. He was Sweden's envoy to Washington D.C between 1910 and 1911. He became Sweden's Foreign Minister in Liberal leader and Prime Minister Karl Staaff's Second Cabinet. As Foreign Minister of Sweden he instituted reforms in the Swedish Foreign Service and worked to ease tensed relations with Czarist Russia.

Quick Facts Envoy of Sweden to France, Preceded by ...

Albert Ehrensvärd


Envoy of Sweden to France
In office 11 June 1918 – 4 May 1934
Preceded by	August Gyldenstolpe
Succeeded by	Einar Hennings
Envoy of Sweden to Switzerland
In office 12 August 1915 – 1918
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Patrick Adlercreutz
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 7 October 1911 – 17 February 1914
Preceded by	Arvid Taube
Succeeded by	Knut Agathon Wallenberg
Envoy of Sweden to the United States
In office 8 October 1910 – 1911
Preceded by	Herman Lagercrantz
Succeeded by	August Ekengren
Envoy of Sweden to Belgium and to the Netherlands
In office 17 June 1908 – 1910
Preceded by	Gustaf Falkenberg
Succeeded by	Fredrik af Klercker
State Secretary for Foreign Affairs
In office 16 February 1906 – 1908
Preceded by	Carl Strömfelt
Succeeded by	Fredrik Ramel

Personal details
Born	Johan Jacob Albert Ehrensvärd (1867-05-09)9 May 1867 Gothenburg, Sweden
Died	6 March 1940(1940-03-06) (aged 72) Lund, Sweden
Spouse	Marna Edith Christina Münter (m. 1917; died 1935)
Relatives	C. A. Ehrensvärd (brother)
Alma mater	Lund University
Occupation	Jurist, diplomat

Early life and education

Ehrensvärd was born on 9 May 1867 in Gothenburg, Sweden. His father was the politician and civil servant Count Albert Ehrensvärd [sv] (1821–1901), who served as minister for foreign affairs from 1885 to 1889. His mother, Ingeborg Hedvig Vogt (1825–1904), was the daughter of Norwegian government minister Jørgen Herman Vogt and Countess Hedvig Lovisa Frölich, and she served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Josephine.^[1] He had four siblings: Admiral Carl August Ehrensvärd (1867–1940), Henriette Eleonore Ingeborg Ehrensvärd (born 1853), Anna Louise Dorotée (born 1855), and Augustine Sofia Amalia (1862–1944).^[2] His paternal grandfather was Colonel Gustaf Ehrensvärd [sv] of the Scanian Dragoon Regiment, and his great-grandfather was Count Carl August Ehrensvärd, a naval officer, art theorist, artist, and architect.

Ehrensvärd completed his school-leaving examination on 27 May 1884 and enrolled at Lund University the same year. He earned a Bachelor of Philosophy degree on 31 May 1887, a Candidate of Law degree on 31 January 1891, and a Licentiate of Law degree in Lund on 24 May 1895. On 31 May 1895, he was awarded a Doctor of Law degree.^[1]

Career

Summarize

Perspective

Ehrensvärd was appointed extraordinary notary at the Svea Court of Appeal in February 1891 and became vice district judge (vice häradshövding) on 31 May 1894. That same year, he joined the Ministry for Civil Service Affairs as an amanuensis. On 31 January 1896, he was appointed attaché. He then became acting extra legal clerk (fiskal) at the Svea Court of Appeal on 2 October 1898 and was promoted to assessor on 30 October 1903.^[1] On 15 September 1905, he was named director general for administrative affairs at the Ministry for Civil Service Affairs. The following year, on 16 February 1906, he was appointed state secretary for foreign affairs at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. His diplomatic career continued with his appointment as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Belgian and Dutch courts on 17 June 1908, and later to Washington, D.C., on 8 October 1910.^[1]

On 7 October 1911, Ehrensvärd was named minister for foreign affairs. He resigned from the position on 17 February 1914 and was placed on standby as a minister on 21 February 1914. His diplomatic service resumed when he was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Swiss Confederation on 12 August 1915, and later to the French Republic on 11 June 1918.^[1] On 15 March 1919, he represented Sweden in the negotiations for the League of Nations. That same year, he served as a delegate for the Åland and Spitsbergen questions at the Paris Peace Conference. In 1920, he was a delegate for the Åland Islands dispute the Council of the League of Nations.^[1] Ehrensvärd was chairman of the French committee of the Cartesius Foundation in 1931. He left the minister position in Paris and retired in 1934.^[3]

Personal life

On 11 April 1917, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Ehrensvärd married Marna Edit Christina Münter (1 November 1869 in Copenhagen – 17 September 1935 in Lund).^[3] She was the daughter of the Danish chamberlain and lieutenant commander Alexander Balthasar Herman Jacob Münter and Johanne Elisabeth Johnson.^[1]

Death

Ehrensvärd died on 6 March 1940 in Lunds domkyrkoförsamling [sv] in Lund, Sweden.^[3] He was interred on 10 March 1940 at the Ehrensvärd family grave at Tosterup Cemetery [sv] in Smedstorp Parish [sv], Tomelilla Municipality.^[4]