Tord Hagen

Tord Bernhard Hagen (19 January 1914 – 13 March 2008) was a Swedish diplomat and ambassador.

Early life and education

Hagen was born on 19 January 1919 in Uppsala, Swden, the son of County Governor Robert Hagen (1868–1922) and his wife Ellen Hagen (née Wadström). Hagen was known to his friends as Bill, a nickname given to him as a young student in Uppsala. He lost his father early and his mother raised him and his sister Helga while pursuing a career in politics.

Hagen received a fil kand in 1934 and a Candidate of Law degree in 1937.

Career

After graduating from Uppsala University, Hagen went on to pursue a career as a diplomat by joining the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. His first deployment was at the Swedish embassy in London where he directly experienced the outbreak of World War II and the subsequent German bombings. He served as an attaché at the embassy from April 1939 to 1943. He also spent a few months in 1939 as substitute to the general counsel in Dublin.

Hagen would continue his career by spending the majority of his life abroad. In the forties and fifties he served at the Swedish legations in Ankara, Prague and Bonn. In Prague, he experienced the rise of communist influence in Eastern Europe and in Bonn he saw the development of Western European cooperation.

His first position as ambassador came when Hagen was offered to head the installation of a new embassy in Bangkok. He spent five years in Southeast Asia from 1959 to 1964 as ambassador of Thailand, also overseeing Cambodia, Burma and Vietnam. In July 1959, Sweden's newly appointed envoy in Rangoon, Tord Hagen, was appointed ambassador. Hagen then spent two years working at the ministry's headquarters in Stockholm before taking over the position as ambassador of Egypt in Cairo, where he also oversaw Sudan and Somalia. In Egypt, Hagen experienced several turbulent incidents such as the Six-Day War and the assassination of prime minister Wasfi al-Tal of Jordan. After six years in Cairo (1966–72) Hagen and the family returned to Europe where Hagen served as ambassador to the Netherlands 1972-77 and ambassador to Denmark 1977–80.

Despite retiring from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1980 Hagen continued working as he was appointed senior advisor to Volvo International where he spent several years working in Geneva and also made extensive travels to the Middle East.

After ending his assignment at Volvo, Hagen began penning his memoirs which resulted in the book Ett liv i krig och fred (A life in war and peace) which was published in 2000.

In June 1995 Hagen appeared in the BBC documentary Myths and memories of World War 2 discussing the potential peace-treaty between England and Germany in 1940.

Personal life

Hagen was married to Lena Berg from 1937 to 1964. In 1944 and 1946 Hagen and his first wife Lena saw the birth of their children Robert and Cecilia.

In 1966, Hagen married his second wife Inga Lyrholm, the daughter of Torsten Lyrholm and Stina (née Klintberg). Their son Bernhard was born in 1969.

Death

Hagen died quietly in his home in March 2008 at the age of 94.