J. Owen Zurhellen Jr.

Joseph Owen Zurhellen Jr. (July 8, 1920 New York City[1] – November 5, 1990) was an American career Foreign Service officer who was the first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Suriname (1976–1978) when it gained independence in 1975.[2]

Zurhellen attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City[3] and graduated from Columbia University[4] and the United States Navy Japanese Language School in 1943.[1] He served in the Marine Corps between 1943 and 1946 and, after leaving active duty and, after serving in the Marines, he entered the Foreign Service in 1946.[5][6][7] He was positioned in various roles in Japan between 1946–1956 and, after stints at the National War College and in Munich, between 1962–1966.[1]

William Clark Jr. said that Zurhellen "was one of the best Japanese language officers that the Service had." He also said that Zurhellen "used to scare people; he growled at them."[8] Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her diary that she found Zurhellen to be "very well informed" when she visited him in Japan in 1953.[9]

Between 1973 and 1975, he was deputy director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency under Fred Iklé.[10][11] He later publicly criticized Iklé in a 1987 New York Times op-ed after Iklé, who was then Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, wrote his own op-ed in which he suggested it was not President Reagan's but the United States Senate's job to negotiate arms treaties.[12]

He also served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs,[5] Deputy Chief of Mission Israel and deputy director at the United Nations.[13]

He taught political science at Manhattanville College for more than a decade after retiring from the Foreign Service in 1978.[3][5] He also taught one semester at the University of Hawaii.[3]

Personal life

Joseph Owen Zurhellen was born on July 8, 1920, in New York City to Joseph Owen and Dorrial Bernadette (née Levy) Zurhellen.[1]

Zurhellen married Helen Audrey Millar on December 19, 1942.[1] They had five children together.[5] Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her diary that, when she visited Zurhellen's home in Japan, "it was a joy" to see that his children were "all learning to be good Americans but at the same time all learning to speak Japanese in the most painless way."[9]

Zurhellen moved to Putnam Valley, New York upon his retirement from diplomacy in 1978. He died of cancer at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx on November 5, 1990.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "J. Owen Zurhellen Jr. Collection". Special Collections and Archives. University of Colorado Boulder Libraries. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  2. ↑ "Joseph Owen Zurhellen Jr". Office of the Historian. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Joseph Owen Zurhellen Jr., former U.S. ambassador, dies at 70". Tarrytown Daily News. 8 November 1990. p. 7. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  4. ↑ Columbia College (Columbia University). Office of Alumni Affairs and Development; Columbia College (Columbia University) (1959). Columbia College today. Columbia University Libraries. New York, N.Y. : Columbia College, Office of Alumni Affairs and Development.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "J. O. Zurhellen Jr., 70, A State Dept. Official". The New York Times. November 9, 1990. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  6. ↑ "Son of Consul Wins A Times Scholarship". The New York Times. 1964-04-26. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  7. ↑ "Columbia Daily Spectator 10 October 1940 — Columbia Spectator". spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  8. ↑ Stern, Thomas (1998). "Ambassador William Clark, Jr" (PDF). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  9. 1 2 Roosevelt, Eleanor. "My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, June 19, 1953". www2.gwu.edu. George Washington University. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  10. ↑ Gwertzman, Bernard (11 July 1973). "New Chief Intent on Bolstering Arms‐Control Agency". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  11. ↑ Zurhellen Jr., J. Owen (11 October 1981). "Opinion: An Arms Buildup Tailored for Arms Control". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  12. ↑ Zurhellen Jr., J. Owen (16 June 1987). "Opinion: Treaties Are the President's Job, Not the Senate's". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  13. ↑ "HELEN A. ZURHELLEN". The Journal News. March 11, 2007. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
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