Henrik Kauffmann
Henrik Kauffmann | |
---|---|
Danish Ambassador to the United States | |
In office 22 August 1939 – 1958 | |
President | Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower |
Preceded by | Otto Wadsted |
Succeeded by | Kjeld Gustav Knuth-Winterfeldt |
Minister without portfolio | |
In office 12 May 1945 – 7 November 1945 | |
Prime Minister | Vilhelm Buhl |
Personal details | |
Born | Henrik Louis Hans von Kauffmann 26 August 1888 Frankfurt am Main |
Died | 5 June 1963 Skodsborg Spa Hotel | (aged 74)
Spouse |
Charlotte MacDougall
(m. 1926; died 1963) |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Mason Sears (brother-in-law) |
Henrik Kauffmann (26 August 1888 – 5 June 1963) was the
Career
Kauffmann started his foreign career by serving as envoy in
On 9 April 1941, the anniversary of the
Kauffmann's treaty was approved by the local officials on Greenland but declared void by the
Kauffmann was nicknamed "the King of Greenland" for his independent political moves in the Greenland affair.
He was married to Charlotte MacDougall, the daughter of United States Navy Rear Admiral William Dugald MacDougall.[3]
Rehabilitation
Revoking the sentence against Kauffmann was one of the first tasks done by the Danish
Kauffmann's treaty was adapted in the early 1950s and remains the legal basis for the U.S.
Death
In June 1963, Kauffmann, suffering from
In popular culture
The film The Good Traitor (Vores mand i Amerika) released in 2020, covers the signing of the agreement over Greenland between Henrik Kauffmann and the United States. Kauffmann is played by Ulrich Thomsen.
References
- ^ a b Beukel 1997, p. 320.
- ^ Henrik Kauffmann (April 13, 1941). "FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC PAPERS, 1941, EUROPE, VOLUME II, The Danish Minister (Kauffmann) to the Secretary of State". Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
Under the circumstances, there was, to me, no doubt but that I must, in the interests of Denmark and Greenland, take this unusual step. The Government in Denmark will not, as long as Denmark is occupied, be able to obtain full information as to the background and necessity for this action. I, therefore, request that judgment of my decision be withheld until Denmark again is free, and the Danish Government and public can come to know the situation that made the step necessary. I earnestly beg His Majesty the King and the Danish Government to be assured that I have acted in the way which I felt to be right, after careful consideration and according to my best belief and the dictates of my conscience, fulfilling my allegiance to His Majesty the King.
- ^ "Lake Charles American-Press from Lake Charles, Louisiana on June 6, 1963 · Page 17". Newspapers.com. 6 June 1963. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
- ^ Drakidis, Philippe (1995). The Atlantic and United Nations Charters: common law prevailing for world peace and security. Centre de recherche et d'information politique et sociale. p. 131 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 9789211002737– via Google Books.
- ^ Meg Hixon (February 2014). "Sears and MacDougall family collection : Biography". Manuscripts Division, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan. University of Michigan. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
Charlotte MacDougall Kauffmann killed her husband, then suffering from prostate cancer, and herself in Copenhagen in June 1963.
- ^
"Wife Cuts Danish Hero's Throat, Then Kills Self". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. 1963-06-05. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
Police reported today the American wife of Denmark's former ambassador to the United States, Henrik Kauffman, slit her husband's throat and then took her own life with the same bread knife. They described the murder as a "mercy killing."
Sources
- Beukel, Erik (1997). "Henrik Kauffmann Som Politisk Diplomat". Historie/Jyske Samlinger (in Danish) (2): 318. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
Further reading
- Briggs, Herbert W. (1941). "The Validity of the Greenland Agreement". American Journal of International Law. 35 (3). Cambridge University Press: 506–13. S2CID 147539995. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ISBN 9780820468198.
- ISBN 9788711385289.
- ISBN 9788702288506.