Nils-Eric Ekblad

Nils-Eric Gustaf Ekblad (12 November 1904 – 25 August 1978),^[1] was a Swedish diplomat.

Early life

Ekblad was born in Lund, Sweden and was the son of headmaster Erik Ekblad and Gustava (née Jönsson). When he was fifteen years old in 1920 he passed his graduation exam and enrolled at the Lund University. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1922, became a reserve officer in 1924 and earned a Candidate of Law in 1928 before being recruited by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs as an attaché the same year.^[2]

Career

He served in Chicago in 1929, was acting second secretary of legation in Riga, Tallinn and Kaunas 1931, attaché in Bern in 1934, and vice consul in Omaha in 1935. Ekblad was then vice consul and trade attaché in Copenhagen in 1937, first vice consul in 1938 and became first secretary of legation in 1939. In 1939 he received the rank of captain and became head of the department at the National Information Board. He became director in 1941, was counsellor and chargé d'affaires in Caracas from 1943 to 1948, in Addis Ababa from 1948 to 1950 before he was back and served at the Foreign Ministry from 1950 to 1952. Ekblad became consul in Hamburg in 1952 and was consul general there from 1954 to 1960 before he was ambassador in Canberra from 1960 to 1963, in Dublin from 1963 to 1967, and in Tehran from 1967 to 1970 with side-accreditation to Kabul.^[2]

Under the pseudonym of 'Spectator' he and Gunnar Unger published the brochure Svenskarna och propagandan: har Gallup rätt? (The Swedes and the propaganda: is Gallup right?) (1943).^[3] Eblad was the chairman of the National Information Board's Advertising Council 1940-1943, its Film Council 1942-1943, deputy chairman of the Stockholm Advertising Association 1942-1943 and board member of the Swedish Advertising Association from 1942 to 1943.^[4]

Personal life

In 1931 he married the dentist Märta Granström (1905-1976), daughter of the wholesaler Carl Granström and Cecilia Frykblom.^[2] He was the father of Marie-Louise (born 1933) and Ulla-Mae (born 1937).^[4] Ekblad died in 1978 and was buried at the Northern Cemetery in Lund. By the time of his death Ekblad resided in Algarve, Portugal.^[5]

Awards

Ekblads awards:^[4]

• Commander of Order of the Polar Star. 1st class (1967)
• Knight 1st Class of Order of Vasa (1941)
• Grand Officer of the Order of the Bust of Bolivar
• Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog
• Commander of the Order of the Three Stars
• Third Class of the Order of the White Star
• First Class Knight of the Order of the White Rose of Finland
• Officer of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas
• Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau
• Knight of the Order of St. Olav
• Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• King Christian X's Liberty Medal
• Memory Medal on the occasion of the second Lingiad (Minnesmedalj med anledning av andra Lingiaden) (1949)
• Southern Journalist Association's badge of merit in gold (Södra journalistförbundets förtjänsttecken i guld)

References

1. "Avlidna svenskar". Anno. (in Swedish). Malmö: Corona. 1978. p. 122.
2. Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1969 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1969] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 1968. p. 222.
3. Spectator (1943). Svenskarna och propagandan: har Gallup rätt? [The Swedes and the propaganda: is Gallup right?] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Geber.
4. Harnesk, Paul, ed. (1962). Vem är vem? 1, Stor-Stockholm [Who is who? 1, Greater Stockholm] (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Vem är vem. p. 315.
5. "Ekblad, Nils Erik" (in Swedish). Svenskagravar.se. Retrieved 2015-05-19.