Wilhelm Wachtmeister

Count Wilhelm Hans Fredrik Wachtmeister (29 April 1923 – 3 February 2012) was a Swedish career diplomat who served as the Swedish Ambassador to the United States for 15 years from 1974 to 1989, eventually becoming the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in 1986, as the longest-serving ambassador in the diplomatic corps in Washington, DC.

Early life Wachtmeister was born on 29 April 1923 at Wanås Castle in Östra Göinge Municipality, Sweden, the son of cabinet chamberlain, Count and his wife Margaretha (née Trolle). He passed studentexamen at Sigtunaskolan Humanistiska Läroverket in 1941 and received as Candidate of Law degree from Stockholm University College in 1946 and was hired by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs as an attaché the same year.

Wachtmeister left the Swedish diplomatic service in 1989 and then worked as advisor to the chairman of AB Volvo from 1989 to 1994 and as international advisor to the Coudert Brothers law firm in Washington, D.C. from 1989 to 1994. He was chairman of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce from 1993 to 1995.

Awards and decorations