Arne Helleryd

Bror Arne Lennart Helleryd (29 January 1920 – 1 November 2009) was a Swedish diplomat whose career in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs began in 1946. Early on, he was posted to Shanghai, where during the Chinese Civil War (1949–1951) he served as Sweden's only representative in China.

He subsequently held diplomatic positions in Copenhagen, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, and New York City. From 1976 to 1978, he served as ambassador to several Central American countries, where he became involved in high-profile consular matters, including a kidnapping case in El Salvador. He was then appointed ambassador to Addis Ababa (1978–1982), with concurrent accreditation to several neighboring countries, and later served as envoy in Pretoria (1982–1985).

Early life Helleryd was born on 29 January 1920 in Örebro, Sweden, the son of managing director Edvin Helleryd and Elsa (née Gustafson). He had two brothers and one sister.

He passed his upper secondary school examination in 1940 and obtained a Master of Science in Business and Economics degree from the Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law in 1945.

He then served as ambassador in Addis Ababa from 1978 to 1982, with concurrent accreditation to Aden (1978–1981), Antananarivo (1978–1981), and Port Louis (1978–1981). In August 1979, Helleryd was also accredited to Djibouti City, where Sweden had not previously had an ambassador.

In Ethiopia, he was involved in the case of the adult education teacher Göran Göransson, who was arrested at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in April 1981 for unclear reasons. Helleryd participated in security interrogations of Göransson and contacted various ministries in Addis Ababa in efforts to secure his release. The following year, in March 1982, Helleryd was involved in the case of aid expert Sture Bäcklund, who had been imprisoned in Addis Ababa. Despite his diplomatic immunity, Bäcklund was accused of "associating with separatist bandits," referring to the resistance movement in Eritrea Province.

He subsequently served as envoy in Pretoria from 1982 to 1985. They had one daughter, Cristina (born 1956).

He then lived in Southern France from 2000 to 2002 before returning to Sweden, where he settled in Hittarp in Helsingborg Municipality.