August Ekengren


Wilhelm August Ferdinand Ekengren was a Swedish diplomat. He was envoy of Sweden to the United States from 1912 to 1920.

Career

Ekengren was born in Stockholm, Sweden to Vilhelm Ferdinand Ekengren and his wife Augusta Bachertz. Ekengren graduated from Uppsala University in 1895 and began his diplomatic career in 1896. He was vice consul in Rouen in 1896, which was followed by appointments as vice consul in Bordeaux and vice consul Le Havre and consul in Lübeck.
Ekengren was vice consul in New York City from 1899 to 1900 and from 1902 to 1903. He was second secretary at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1905 and legation secretary in Washington, D.C. in 1906. He became legation counsellor there in 1910 and was envoy from March 1912. During World War I when diplomatic relations with the Austro-Hungarian Empire were severed, he was in charge of relations between Austria-Hungary and the United States.

Personal life

In 1909 he married Laura Wolcott Jackson. He died on 26 November 1920 in Washington, D.C. after a brief illness. Funeral services was held at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. Ekengren's remains were then brought to Sweden on the American battleship which arrived in Stockholm on 15 February 1921. He was buried at Norra begravningsplatsen in Solna Municipality.

Dates of appointment

Ekengren's dates of appointment: