Cornelius Van Hemert Engert

Adolf Cornelius van Hemert Engert was born in Vienna, Austria on New Year's Eve 1887,{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TzRlAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT36 |title=Proceed to Peshawar: The Story of a U.S. Navy Intelligence Mission on the Afghan Border, 1943 |last=Hill |first=George |date=November 15, 2013 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=978-1-61251-328-7 |location=Annapolis, Maryland |pages=36–42}} to a Russian citizen father and a Hungarian Jewish mother. His father, John Cornelius Engert, a trader by profession, was of Dutch origin; he died within a year, leaving his mother, Irma Babetz, to raise him in Austria-Hungary. As his granddaughter, Jane, would later state, however, Engert had a habit of "trying to purge all records and accounts that conflicted with the [...] identity he was trying to create":{{Cite book |title=Tales from the embassy: the extraordinary world of C. Van H. Engert |last=Engert |first=Jane Morrison |publisher=Eagle Editions |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7884-4296-4 |location=Westminster, Maryland |language=English |oclc=1014768302}}{{rp|72}} by sixteen, after attending gymnasium in Zürich, Engert's given name was spelled Adolph.{{r|Engert|p=71}} That was the name under which he and his mother, a physician, emigrated to the United States in 1904, on the SS Kaiser Wilhelm II;{{r|Engert|p=69}} he would later claim that he had been brought to the United States as a child.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/15/world/cornelius-engert-diplomat-worked-for-us-in-mideast.html |title=Cornelius Engert, Diplomat; Worked for U.S. in Mideast |last=Saxon |first=Wolfgang |date=May 15, 1985 |work=The New York Times |access-date=November 27, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

As Engert had only attended gymnasium for three years, he claimed to have attended Ferndale High School in California for one year, 1905, though Ferndale had no graduating class until 1906.{{r|Engert|p=66}} Nevertheless, he matriculated into the University of California system, graduating from Berkeley with a Bachelor of Letters in 1908, and his master's (again, in letters) the next year. Though his professor of Slavic languages, George Rapall Noyes, would later describe him as "[t]he best student of those early years [of teaching]" and a "youth of many talents",{{Cite news |title=Slavic Languages at the University of California |last=Noyes |first=George Rapall |date=1944 |work=Slavonic and East European Review. American Series |issue=3 |volume=3 |pages=53–60 |doi=10.2307/3020175 |issn=1535-0940 |jstor=3020175}} Jane Engert would describe her grandfather's academic performance as "not at all distinguished", though "decent enough".{{r|Engert|p=19}} He then proceeded to study law and teach until 1911, when he took the Le Conte Memorial Fellowship then offered by the university to study for a year at Harvard University, where he befriended A. Lawrence Lowell, the President of Harvard University at the time.{{r|Engert|p=20}}

Although he left his heart in California, Engert would modify his background as it suited him throughout his life: to The New York Times and other newspapers, he was of "Dutch parentage"; to others, he presented himself as having German relatives, or English and Dutch parentage.{{r|Engert|p=75}} Indeed, though it was preserved in federal records, including his naturalization papers in 1910, by the time of his entry into graduate school, Engert had dropped his misspelled first name.{{r|Engert|p=71}}

All the same, in 1912, when Engert began his service in the American diplomatic corps, he declared his state of residence to be California and his name to be "Adolph Cornelius". Only in 1924 was he finally able to remove his first name from State Department records.{{efn|Evidence of this change can be seen in comparing the [https://archive.org/details/registerofdepar1916unit_0/page/88/mode/2up 1916 Register] of the Department of State (where he is strangely called "Adolphus") with the [https://archive.org/details/registerofdepart1924unit/page/122/mode/2up 1924 Register], which indeed lacks his given name.}}

In March 1912, Engert began his career as a student interpreter in Istanbul; after becoming a full-fledged interpreter, he would become vice consul there two years later.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/05/05/archives/exteacher-defends-american-legation-born-in-vienna-of-netherlands.html |title=EX-TEACHER DEFENDS AMERICAN LEGATION; Born in Vienna of Netherlands Parents, Engert Rose to Addis Ababa Post in Our Service. |date=May 5, 1936 |work=The New York Times |access-date=November 27, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

As Engert himself would later note: he had a "Foreign Service career that went from one calamity to another—and was always exciting."{{Cite magazine |last=Harter |first=John J. |date=January 1981 |title=Diplomacy and War in the Twentieth Century: The Foreign Service Career of Cornelius van H. Engert |url=https://afsa.org/foreign-service-journal-january-1981 |magazine=The Foreign Service Journal |pages=51–56, 66 |access-date=November 27, 2019}}

Indeed, he would have the misfortune of serving as vice-consul during World War I, during which he witnessed the sinking of the Mesudiye by a British submarine.{{r|Engert|p=8}} He later struck up an acquaintance with the British sailor commanding the submarine during the attack, Norman Douglas Holbrook.{{r|Engert|p=15}}

After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Engert returned to the newly established state of Turkey, where he continued to serve in the consulate in Istanbul as vice-consul; he later became consul.

In the early 1920s, Engert briefly served in Iran as acting U.S. minister;{{Cite journal |last=Rubin |first=Michael A. |date=1995 |title=Stumbling through the "Open Door": The U.S. in Persia and the Standard-Sinclair Oil Dispute, 1920-1925 |journal=Iranian Studies |volume=28 |issue=3/4 |pages=203–229 |doi=10.1080/00210869508701836 |jstor=4310943 |issn=0021-0862}} as he was proceeding to his post, he happened to witness the Iraqi revolt of 1920 against Arnold Wilson.{{cite book|author1=Karl Ernest Meyer|author2=Shareen Blair Brysac|title=Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hcZrEHg4sdsC&pg=PA148|year=2008|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0-393-06199-4|pages=147–149}}

During his time in Iran, before and after the 1921 Persian coup d'état, he catalogued the rise of Reza Shah.{{cite book|author=Mohammad Gholi Majd|title=August 1941: The Anglo-Russian Occupation of Iran and Change of Shahs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KU0GUtt510sC&pg=PA15|date=6 July 2012|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0-7618-5941-3|page=15}}

In 1922, upon leaving his Persian post, Engert became the first U.S. diplomat to travel through Afghanistan,{{cite book|author=Bruce Riedel|title=What We Won: America's Secret War in Afghanistan, 1979 89|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hb8xAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA11|date=28 July 2014|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|isbn=978-0-8157-2585-5|pages=11–}}{{r|Engert|p=31}} ostensibly to search for business opportunities through oil drilling. He also successfully convinced Amanullah Khan to allow Lowell Thomas and David Wooster King through as well. Thomas would later write Beyond Khyber Pass from this experience, and Engert a report for the State Department; Thomas's book was a popular success, as was Engert's report (though in different circumstances). The former would be forgotten; the latter used even into the twentieth century by Harry S. Truman.{{r|Engert|p=35-49}}

Engert later served at The Hague, in Peking, and in Latin America.

In the summer of 1935, Engert was assigned to Addis Ababa, to serve as the United States chargé d'affaires there;{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/07/10/archives/engert-to-represent-us-in-addis-ababa-near-east-specialist-named-to.html |title=ENGERT TO REPRESENT U.S. IN ADDIS ABABA; Near East Specialist Named to Replace Hanson as Charge d'Affaires in Ethiopia. |date=July 10, 1935 |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 5, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} he was received by Emperor Haile Selassie in August.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/08/06/archives/us-envoy-received.html |title=U.S. Envoy Received. |date=August 6, 2019 |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 5, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

The Second Italo-Ethiopian War began in October, and, during the war, Engert attempted to protect Foreign Service personnel with bomb shelters and communications systems.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/10/08/archives/our-envoy-to-construct-bomb-shelter-in-ethiopia.html |title=Our Envoy to Construct Bomb Shelter in Ethiopia |date=October 8, 1935 |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 5, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} As the war raged in Ethiopia, Engert was promoted to minister resident in late January 1936;{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/01/28/archives/engert-wins-promotion-american-observer-in-ethiopia-made-minister.html |title=ENGERT WINS PROMOTION.; American Observer in Ethiopia Made Minister Resident. |date=January 28, 1936 |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 5, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} the U. S. Senate confirmed his promotion a few days later.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/02/04/archives/abruzzo-is-named-to-federalbench-nomination-is-the-first-major.html |title=ABRUZZO IS NAMED TO FEDERAL.BENCH; Nomination Is the First Major Recognition for Kelly, Brooklyn Leader. |date=February 4, 1936 |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 5, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

The conclusion of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War began in May 1936, with the Italian capture of Addis Ababa. Despite Engert's attempts to protect American personnel, the intervening days between the flight of the Emperor on May 2, the immediate collapse of civil order, and the Italian march toward Addis Ababa left his charges vulnerable: Engert, his wife, and the rest of the legation staff, along with Greek civilians and American journalists, came under attack from Ethiopian bandits in the attack on the United States embassy in Addis Ababa. For several tense days, beginning on May 2,{{Cite news |date=May 3, 1936 |title=U.S. LEGATION HIT BY STRAY BULLETS; No One Killed, Says Minister in Addis Ababa – Flames Spare Our Building. CONSUL'S HOME IS LOOTED American Missionaries Safe – Haven Provided for Thirty Greeks and Russians. U.S. LEGATION HIT BY STRAY BULLETS |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/05/03/archives/us-legation-hit-by-stray-bullets-no-one-killed-says-minister-in.html |access-date=December 5, 2019 |issn=0362-4331}} the American legation was repeatedly assaulted with gunfire, while looting and disorder spread throughout the city.{{Cite news |date=May 5, 1936 |title=BRITISH HEED OUR APPEAL; Will Rescue Americans in Legation but They Cannot Defend It. OCCUPANTS FIGHT OFF MOB Two Servants Are Shot Later – More Fires Are Set in Day of Terror in Capital. NIGHT IS REPORTED CALM U.S. Minister Reluctant to Quit Quarters, but He Will Consult British on Action. Italian Troops Reach Capital |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/05/05/archives/british-heed-our-appeal-will-rescue-americans-in-legation-but-they.html |access-date=November 27, 2019 |issn=0362-4331}} The diplomatic staff managed to harm at least one attacker, but the attacks only abated with the Italian occupation of the capital on May 5, 1936.{{cite book|author=J. Robert Moskin|title=American Statecraft: The Story of the U.S. Foreign Service|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pc5FAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA375|date=19 November 2013|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-1-250-03745-9|page=375}} A few days later, President Roosevelt promoted Engert for his heroism.{{Cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19360509.2.18&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 |title=F.D.R. Promotes Ethiopia Minister |date=May 9, 1936 |work=San Pedro News Pilot |access-date=February 9, 2020 }}

Even though he now lived in an occupied city, through the early half of 1937, Engert remained at his post, sheltering refugees during the events of Yekatit 12, where the Italian occupiers massacred thousands of Addis Ababa residents; he also attempted to restrain them on multiple occasions.{{cite book|author=Ian Campbell|title=The Addis Ababa Massacre: Italy's National Shame|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-h83DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA301|year=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-067472-4|pages=300–303}}

In March 1937, Engert finally left Ethiopia;{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/03/07/archives/engert-u-s-envoy-quits-addis-ababa-returning-to-this-country-he.html |title=ENGERT, U. S. ENVOY, QUITS ADDIS ABABA; Returning to This Country, He Denies Ethiopians Were Slain at Legation by Italians |date=1937-03-07 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2020-01-30 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} his post was terminated a few weeks later.

Engert returned to Iran in June 1937, this time as chargé d'affaires (in the modern sense).

This time, his job was to help restore diplomatic relations, which had been severed the year before over issues regarding newspaper coverage and a speeding incident. Engert was ultimately successful in this duty.{{cite book|author=John A. DeNovo|title=American Interests and Policies in the Middle East, 1900-1939|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5KXABiXHy5IC&pg=PA311|date=29 November 1963|publisher=U of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-0-8166-5742-1|pages=306–312}}

He was also able to document Iran's relations with the Axis powers and the Allies at the beginning of World War II.{{r|Majd|p=5}} Additionally, Engert offered his opinion on the waning years of Reza Shah's regime: repressive and stifling in its lack of political debate, floundering in its meager attempts at a census, yet courageous in introducing mandatory unveiling of women.{{r|Majd|p=15-28}} As the war continued, Engert also noted the impact of German victories early on, the closeness of the Shah to the Germans, the Russian pressure on the government of Iran, and Iranian steps to shake free from British influence.{{r|Majd|p=117–147}}

His mission complete, Engert was replaced with Louis G. Dreyfus in December 1940.{{r|Majd|p=147}}

In 1941, while serving in Beirut, Engert witnessed the Syria–Lebanon campaign, as Vichy France requested that he mediate ceasefire negotiations which were promptly rejected by the British; ultimately, the Allies emerged victorious in the region.{{Cite journal |last=Zamir |first=Meir |date=2007 |title=De Gaulle and the Question of Syria and Lebanon during the Second World War: Part I |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |volume=43 |issue=5 |pages=675–708 |doi=10.1080/00263200701422584 |jstor=4284582 |s2cid=143469656 |issn=0026-3206}}

In May 1942, though still in Beirut, Engert was nominated as the United States Minister to Afghanistan;{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/04/28/archives/engert-envoy-to-afghanistan.html |title=Engert Envoy to Afghanistan |date=April 28, 1942 |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 8, 2020 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} he took up his post later that year.

During his time in Afghanistan, Engert was instrumental in the opening of the Afghan economy to the world, and created opportunities for economic development,{{Cite journal |last=Poullada |first=Leon B. |date=1981 |title=Afghanistan and the United States: The Crucial Years |journal=Middle East Journal |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=178–190 |jstor=4326198 |issn=0026-3141}} which, in the words of Leon B. Poullada, were later "wasted through ignorance, apathy, and bumbling diplomacy".{{Cite journal |last=Poullada |first=Leon B. |author-link=Leon B. Poullada |date=1982 |title=The Failure of American Diplomacy in Afghanistan |volume=145 |issue=3 |pages=230–252 |issn=0043-8200 |jstor=20671948 |journal=World Affairs}}

After returning to the United States, Engert retired from the State Department at the end of the year;{{Cite magazine |date=August 1972 |title=Mrs. Cornelius Engert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g4snquMWIl4C&q=cornelius%2520van%2520h.%2520engert%2520retired&pg=PA40 |magazine=Department of State Newsletter |language=en |page=40 |access-date=February 8, 2020}} as the Foreign Service Journal noted, he retired effective January 1, 1946.{{Cite magazine |date=February 1946 |title=Foreign Service Retirements |url=https://www.afsa.org/foreign-service-journal-february-1946 |magazine=The Foreign Service Journal |page=25 |access-date=February 9, 2020}}

Immediately after his retirement, Engert joined the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration as a diplomat,{{Cite magazine |last=Wilson |first=Jane |date=March 1946 |title=News from the Department |url=https://www.afsa.org/foreign-service-journal-march-1946 |magazine=The Foreign Service Journal |page=23 |access-date=February 9, 2020}} heading a mission to Turkey in March 1946.{{cite book|title=The Department of State Bulletin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5YlNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA960|accessdate=February 9, 2020|year=1946|publisher=Office of Public Communication, Bureau of Public Affairs|page=960}}

Engert was a founding member of American Friends of the Middle East in 1951, serving as secretary-treasurer.{{Cite journal |last=Wilford |first=Hugh |date=February 2017 |title=American Friends of the Middle East: The CIA, US Citizens, and the Secret Battle for American Public Opinion in the Arab–Israeli Conflict, 1947–1967 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-american-studies/article/american-friends-of-the-middle-east-the-cia-us-citizens-and-the-secret-battle-for-american-public-opinion-in-the-arabisraeli-conflict-19471967/6638C07EFF20371974C920410824683D |journal=Journal of American Studies |language=English |publication-date=2015-09-14 |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=100–102|doi=10.1017/S0021875815001255 |s2cid=151467368 |url-access=subscription }}

Later, he joined the World Bank and also lectured at various universities.

After a courtship of more than two years, Engert married Sara Morrison Cunningham on December 16, 1922,{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39720041/local_girl_bride_at_st_lukes_wedding/ |title=Local Girl Bride at St. Luke's Wedding |last=Francisco |first=Cholly |date=December 18, 1922 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |access-date=November 27, 2019 |pages=17}} at St. Luke's Church in San Francisco.{{Cite magazine |date=December 15, 1922 |title=Forthcoming Events |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cy_YsVpBcIwC&pg=RA5-PA16 |magazine=The Spur |volume=30 |issue=12 |page=16 |access-date=2019-11-27}} Cunningham was a socialite, amateur bookbinder (and life member of the Guild of Book Workers),{{Cite journal |last=Young |first=Laura S. |date=Fall 1972 |title=Sara Cunningham Engert |url=https://guildofbookworkers.org/sites/guildofbookworkers.org/files/journal/gbwjournal_011_no1.pdf |journal=Guild of Book Workers Journal |volume=11 |issue=1}} and former nurse during World War I, for which she had received the Medal of French Gratitude. Sara would join her husband at his posts, most famously at Addis Ababa, for which she was later nominated for a Congressional Medal of Honor by Edith Nourse Rogers for her actions during the embassy attack.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/05/11/archives/bill-advocates-medal-as-honor-to-mrs-engert.html |title=Bill Advocates Medal As Honor to Mrs. Engert |date=May 11, 1936 |work=The New York Times |access-date=November 25, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Ultimately, Sara predeceased Cornelius on July 14, 1972, while on vacation in Brussels.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/07/28/archives/mrs-cornelius-engert-87-dies-helped-defend-a-us-legation.html |title=Mrs. Cornelius Engert, 87 Dies; Helped Defend a U.S. Legation |date=July 28, 1972 |work=The New York Times |access-date=November 25, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

The couple had two children, Roderick (1925–2018), a military historian with the United States Army;{{Cite web |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=roderick-engert&pid=188070977 |title=Roderick Engert |date=February 4, 2018 |website=Legacy.com}} and Sheila. Roderick's daughter, Jane, would go on to write a biography about her grandfather.{{r|Engert|p=i}}

In January 1981, at the age of 93, Engert reminisced about his State Department years with colleagues, all the while claiming he was 95, to a reporter of The Washington Post.{{Cite news |last=Hall |first=Carla |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/01/10/war-bonds/b992ed40-99bc-48ab-a083-f33f4383f0c3/ |title=War Bonds |date=January 10, 1981 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=February 8, 2020 }}

Cornelius van Hemert Engert died on May 12, 1985, at his son's home.

His papers are located at the Lauinger Library, a part of the Georgetown University Library.

{{notelist}}

• [https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/engert-cornelius-van-hemert Cornelius Van Hemert Engert] at the Office of the Historian
• [https://findingaids.library.georgetown.edu/repositories/15/resources/10067 Cornelius Van H. Engert Papers] at the Lauinger Library

{{reflist}}

{{US Ambassadors to Afghanistan}}

{{United States Ambassadors to Iran}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Engert, Cornelius}}

Category:1887 births

Category:1985 deaths

Category:People from Ferndale, California

Category:Consuls for the United States

Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Afghanistan

Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni

Category:UC Berkeley School of Law alumni

Category:Diplomats from Vienna

Category:Diplomats from Washington, D.C.

Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Washington, D.C.

Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Iran

Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Ethiopia

Category:Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States

Category:20th-century American diplomats