Arne Thorén

Björn Arne Jerker Thorén (24 March 1927 – 23 February 2003) was a Swedish journalist and diplomat. As correspondent in the United States he submitted between 7,000 and 8,000 reports for Sveriges Radio and informed the Swedish people of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, of the first man on the moon and of the Watergate scandal. In the 1980s and 1990s, Thorén served as Consul General of Sweden in Chicago and New York City and as Ambassador of Sweden in Iraq.

Early life Thorén was born on 24 March 1927 in in Gothenburg, Sweden, the son of editor-in-chief (1895–1977) and his wife Helen Setterberg (1902–1991). He was the older brother of the journalist and TV host (1929–1978) and Görel Thorén-Mellby (1932–2012).

Career Thorén attended from 1946 to 1947 and the University of South Dakota from 1948 to 1949. Thorén worked for Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning and Expressen in 1950 and he was Expressens New York City correspondent from 1952 to 1964. Thorén's diplomatic career began in 1980 when he was appointed Consul General of Sweden in Chicago. He then served as Ambassador of Sweden in Baghdad, Iraq from 1983 to 1988. Thorén served in Baghdad during the Iran–Iraq War and was an important reporter home to Sweden and Olof Palme, who was the special mediator of the United Nations in the Iran–Iraq War. After Iraq, Thorén served as Consul General of Sweden in New York City from 1988 to 1992.

He was then married 1964–1966 to Margareta Bahrton He was interred on 15 March 2003 at .

Awards and honours Stora Journalistpriset (1969) Honorary Doctor of Philosophy, North Park College, Chicago (1983) Honorary Doctor of Philosophy, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois (1983)