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Prof. Carl J. Burckhardt
CARL JACOB BURCKHARDT (September 10, 1891 - March 3, 1974) was a Swiss diplomat and historian. His career alternated between periods of academic historical research and diplomatic postings; the mos...view moreCARL JACOB BURCKHARDT (September 10, 1891 - March 3, 1974) was a Swiss diplomat and historian. His career alternated between periods of academic historical research and diplomatic postings; the most prominent of the latter were League of Nations High Commissioner for the Free City of Danzig (1937-1939) and President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (1945-1948).
Burckhardt was born in Basel and studied at the universities of Basel, Zürich, Munich, and Göttingen, earning his doctorate in 1922. He then accepted an appointment with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which posted him to Asia Minor.
On his return to Switzerland in 1922 he pursued an academic career; he was appointed Privatdozent at the University of Zurich in 1927, and extraordinary professor of contemporary history in 1929. From 1932-1937 he was ordinary professor at the recently created Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.
He returned to a diplomatic career in 1937, serving as the final League of Nations High Commissioner for the Free City of Danzig from 1937-1939, then to his professorship in Geneva for the rest of World War II (1939-1945). He was also active in a leading role in the ICRC and at war end became President of the ICRC, simultaneously serving as the Swiss envoy in Paris (1945-1948).
After 1949 he returned to his academic career, publishing a number of books. In 1954 he was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. He died in 1974 in Vinzel.view less