Nicolas M. Salgo

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Nicolas M. Salgo (born Miklós Salgó in Budapest on August 17, 1914 ; died February 26, 2005 in Bal Harbor , Florida ) was an American entrepreneur and ambassador of Hungarian descent.

Life

Nicolas Salgo was born the son of a lawyer. He studied at the University of Budapest and graduated in law and philosophy in 1937 . During this time he was already working for Manfred Weiss Co. in Budapest. After completing his studies, he worked for the company in Geneva as an export manager from 1938 to 1939 . After that he was involved in the Geneva company Salvaj & Cie until 1948. In 1948 he emigrated to the United States. In New York, Salvaj & Cie. and founded Indeco Corporation and Goal Credit Corporation. In 1950 he became vice president of the construction company Webb & Knapp from William Zeckendorf . There he met IM Pei , with whom he later toured the world several times. He held this position until 1957. At the same time he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Norbute Corporation from 1954 to 1960 . In 1959 he founded his own consulting company Nicolas Salgo and Co. In the same year the Salgo-Noren-Foundation was brought into being. This foundation awards, among other things, a prize for excellent teaching at American universities and offers various exchange scholarships.

In 1960 he took over the management of the former sugar cane company Punta Alegre Sugar Corporation, which he controlled with 30% of the shares. The company, which was possessed by the Cuban Revolution, was an ideal merger partner due to the loss prescriptions. Salgo managed to convince the owners of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad in 1960 to found a holding company. He assumed the position of Director of Corporate Expansion in what is known as Bangor and Aroostook Corporation. In 1964, this holding company merged with Punta Alegre Sugar to form what would later become the Bangor Punta Corporation, and he became Chairman of the Board . Nicolas Salgo stayed with this company until 1973, when he left Bangor Punta due to differences in the further direction of the company and sold his shares.

In 1960 he was a co-founder and partner of Watergate Improvement Associates, which initiated and directed the construction of the Watergate building complex in Washington DC. In 1977 he was involved in the acquisition of the complex for $ 49 million and was Chairman of the Watergate Companies from 1977 to 1983. From 1966 to 1980 he was co-owner and president of the ZX Ranch in Paisley, Oregon .

Under the presidency of Ronald Reagan , the strong supporter of the Republican Party (he donated 503,263 US dollars in 1988) was an advisor to the United States Information Agency from 1982 and a member of the International Private Enterprise Task Force from May 1983. In September 1983 his long-cherished wish came true and he was nominated for the position of US Ambassador to Hungary . After his confirmation by the Senate , he was ambassador to Budapest from November 23, 1983 to August 1, 1986. During this time he privately commissioned the artist Imre Varga to create a memorial for Raoul Wallenberg , the savior of Hungarian Jews, in Budapest. This was set up in 1987. He then continued to work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . From 1987 to 1988 he was responsible for the property negotiations with the GDR for the construction of the embassy, ​​after which he was involved in the construction of the Moscow embassy. In September 1989, President George Bush appointed him Special Envoy for Real Estate. In this position he negotiated with the governments of Bulgaria , Israel , China and the 14 successor states of the Soviet Union over land for embassies and consulates. A nomination for ambassador to Sweden was rejected by the Senate in 1992. With the end of the presidency of George Bush in 1993, his ambassadorship also ended. In 1992 he received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal .

As a result, he devoted himself primarily to the Salgo Trust for Education founded in 1991. The foundation owns the largest collection of Hungarian art outside of Hungary. The pieces in the collection can be seen in a wide variety of exhibitions and museums in the United States and around the world.

In 1982 he initiated the chair for American studies at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. At that time this was the first such chair in what was then the Eastern Bloc.

In 1953, Nicolas M. Salgo received American citizenship. He was married twice. From his first marriage to Marika Noren, he has a son and a daughter. In his second marriage he was married to Josseline de Ferron.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Office of the Historian: Nicolas M. Salgo (1914-2005)
  2. ^ Special meeting, history of Presidential nominees not receiving confirmation hearings: hearing before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, One Hundred Fifth Congress, first session, September 12, 1997 . Washington 1997, OCLC 968584740 ( handle.net [accessed October 9, 2017]).
predecessor Office successor
Harry E. Bergold US Ambassador to Budapest
November 23, 1983–1. August 1986 		Mark Palmer
personal data
SURNAME Salgo, Nicolas M.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American entrepreneur and ambassador of Hungarian descent
DATE OF BIRTH 17th August 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Budapest
DATE OF DEATH February 26, 2005
Place of death Bal Harbor , Florida