Widar Bagge

Widar Bagge (30 April 1886 – 18 April 1970) was a Swedish diplomat.

Early life Bagge was born on 30 April 1886 in , Lilla Edet Municipality, Sweden, the son of John Bagge, a wholesaler, and his wife Fredrika (née Corin). He received a Candidate of Law degree in Stockholm in 1914. Bagge then served as an administrative officer in 1920, second legation secretary in London in 1921 and chargé d'affaires ad interim in Brussels in 1922. He was first legation secretary in Rome in 1923, in Helsinki in 1924 and in Tokyo in 1928.

While in Tokyo, Bagge was attended by Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, who wanted Bagge to convey a peace overture to the United States. Bagge cabled a surrender offer to the Swedish foreign office, for transmittal to the United Kingdom, which relayed it to the United States. Japan was prepared to relinquish all the territory it took in the war and Manchukuo, which it had seized in 1931. Bagge emphasized that the offer must be considered a serious one. The offer, however, came to nothing.

He was envoy in Cairo and Addis Ababa from 1945 to 1951, including in Damascus and Beirut from 1947. He was buried on 11 May 1970 at Norra begravningsplatsen in Solna Municipality.

Awards and decorations

Swedish

Foreign

Commander of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria