William Frei
William Frei (born May 14, 1913 in Milan ; † 1991 ) was a Swiss diplomat .
Life
William Frei was the son of Enrica Vezzalini and Jacob Frei. He married Hélène Henriette Humbert-Droz in 1948. He attended school in Milan and received his doctorate in Turin . In 1930 he joined the foreign service and was employed in the politics department. From 1946 to February 1949 he was Vice Consul in Lyon . From 1965 to 1968 he was counselor in Buenos Aires . From October 22, 1969 to January 1, 1976 he was ambassador in Lima .
From March 14, 1976 to February 15, 1979 he was ambassador to Buenos Aires . The government of Isabel Martínez de Perón had the Compañía Italo Argentina de Electricidad (CIADE) nationalized. William Frei was a shareholder and, in agreement with the Swiss government, negotiated the amount of compensation for the expropriated shareholders, who were mostly Swiss citizens, to the satisfaction of the shareholders with the bureaucracy of the military dictatorship .
On May 16, 1977, Alexei Vladimir Jaccard Siegler, who had both Swiss and Chilean citizenship, was kidnapped from a hotel in Buenos Aires. He had made contact with exiled Chilean communists in order to support them financially in a campaign against the Pinochet dictatorship. Alexei Jaccard and three other Chilean and five Argentine citizens were the victim of the enforced disappearance of Operation Condor that day .
Individual evidence
- ↑ María Seoane-Vicente Muleiro, El dictador : La historia secreta y pública de Jorge Rafael Videla, [1]
- Enzo Nussio, Relations between Switzerland and Argentina during the military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983 - the norm and practice of Swiss foreign policy. With particular reference to human rights policy
- William Frei in the database Dodis the Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Hansjörg Hess (December 7, 1916–1998) |
Swiss Ambassador in Lima October 22, 1969 to January 1, 1976 |
Jean-Pierre Keusch (1932-) |
| Marcel Grossenbacher |
Swiss Ambassador in Buenos Aires March 14, 1976 to February 15, 1979 |
Gaspard Bodmer |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Free, William |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss diplomat |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 14, 1913 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Milan |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1991 |