Ángel Sagaz Zubelzu

Ángel Sagaz Zubelzu (1 March 1913 – 6 May 1974) was a Spanish diplomat. As Ambassador of Spain to Egypt, Sagaz's actions helped to free more than 1,500 Jews who were imprisoned by the Egyptian government and evacuate them from the country amidst the Egyptian government's campaign of intimidation and harassment after its defeat in the Six-Day War in 1967.

Early life Ángel Sagaz Zubelzu was born in Madrid on 1 March 1913. He earned a graduate degree in law, then completed training at the Diplomatic School of Spain.

Diplomatic career He entered service as a career diplomat in the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in 1943. Early in his career, Sagaz was posted to Ottawa, Stockholm, and Helsinki. From 1953 to 1958, he was posted in Washington, D.C. He was director of the MFA's North America and Canada desk from 1960 to 1964. From 1964 through 1966, he was Director-General for North America. Most of these were imprisoned in the Tora Prison south of Cairo, a prison in Abu Zaabal, a suburb to the north of Cairo, and a women's prison in El Qantara in the Nile Delta. Sagaz emphasized, as a ploy, that he did not believe that Egypt was discriminating for reasons of race or religion, but was taking prudent steps during wartime. He also pointed to the fact that Spain had never recognized Israel as proof of his country's friendship with the Arab world. The efforts of Sagaz and the Spanish embassy were revealed by the American press in 1968.

Ambassador to the United States Sagaz served in Cairo until 1972, when he became Ambassador of Spain to the United States on 7 March 1972.

Death Due to illness, Sagaz temporarily returned to Spain on 16 April 1974, flying on a U.S. Air Force plane provided by President Richard Nixon. He died on 6 May 1974, in Jaén.

Personal Sagaz spoke Spanish, English, and French. He married his wife Ursula Zinsel Steeger de Sagaz in Washington in 1956 and had five sons: Jose, Gabriel, Juan Carlos, Manuel, and Santiago.