Maurice M. Bernbaum

Maurice Marshall Bernbaum (1910– March 8, 2008) was an American Career Foreign Service Officer who served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ecuador (1960-1965) and Venezuela (1965-1969).[1]

Bernbaum graduated from Harvard University in 1931. He passed the Foreign Service exam in 1936 and later that year, became Vice Counsul in Vancouver.[2]

During his tenure as Ambassador to Ecuador, their President Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy was overthrown by the Military Junta of 1963 after criticizing the US government and insulting Bernbaum.[3][4] His wife Betty Hahn Bernbaum was an amateur radio operator and philanthropist,[5] whose emergency work after the 1949 Ambato earthquake and 1967 Caracas earthquake was widely publicized.[6][7]

  1. ^ "Maurice Marshall Bernbaum". Office of the Historian. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  2. ^ "The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR MAURICE BERNBAUM" (PDF). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. 13 January 1988. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Ecuador President Outlaws Reds In Face of General Strike". St. Petersburg Times. UPI. 13 July 1963. p. 3-A. Retrieved January 31, 2020. According to an official who was at the banquet, the insult came when Arosemena offered a toast to Bernbaum: 'I drink to the people, but not to the government of the United States of North America.'
  4. ^ "New Ecuador Junta Vows Red Cleanup". Miami News. AP. 12 July 1963. Retrieved January 31, 2020. A military spokesman said Arosemena disgraced himself by getting drunk at a banquet Wednesday night in honor of the president of the Grace Lines, retired U.S. Adm. Wilfred McNeil. Guests at the reception said the president shouted abuse at U.S. Ambassador Maurice Bernbaum, vomited in front of the gathering and committed 'even more indecorous acts.'
  5. ^ Glaser, Vera (1965-12-05). "Two Diplomats for Price of One". The Orlando Sentinel. p. 70. Retrieved 2022-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Kruger, Julie (1967-09-12). "YV5AAZ Big Help in Quakes". The Pensacola News. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Betty Likes to 'Ham' It Up--When Earthquakes Strike". The Evening Sun. 1967-08-23. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.