Hermann Frederick Eilts, who as a diplomat in the Middle East helped Henry A. Kissinger with his shuttle diplomacy, nursed President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt through the Camp David peace talks and dodged a Libyan hit team.
Mr. Eilts, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, was in the foreign service for 32 years, almost all of them in the Middle East, where he worked in Egypt, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. He also served in England, as a monitor of the Middle East.
He was also a figure in major events, advising Mr. Kissinger who, as secretary of state, shuttled between Egypt and Israel in 1974 and 1975, when Mr. Eilts was the ambassador to Egypt. During the first part of his tenure in Egypt, he represented American interests in a section of the Spanish Embassy in Cairo, after diplomatic ties with the United States were cut off during the 1967 war with Israel.
In 1978, The New York Times said that Mr. Eilts was “one of the few ambassadors really trusted” by Mr. Kissinger, whose suspicion of career diplomats was well known.
He was born in Weissenfels Saale, Germany, on March 23, 1922. His family brought him to the United States when he was 4, and he grew up in Scranton, Pa., where his father worked for the railroad.
He became an American citizen in 1930 and graduated from Ursinus College in 1942. Before being drafted into the Army in World War II, he briefly attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he took a student job researching the legal status of Sudan under British and Egyptian control and became fascinated.
He served in Army intelligence in World War II in North Africa and Europe, earning medals including a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. After his discharge, Mr. Eilts earned a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies from the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington; it is now part of the Johns Hopkins University.
While there, he met Helen Josephine Brew, a former Navy Wave who was specializing in the Far East. He persuaded her to switch to studying the Middle East, and they married after he entered the foreign service. She survives him, along with his sons, Frederick, of Wichita, Kan., and Conrad Marshall Eilts of Bahrain, and four grandchildren.
Mr. Eilts was ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1965 to 1970. In his first tour there in the 40’s, he had many meetings with the founder of the kingdom, King Abdul Aziz. The trust he established at the highest levels of the Saudi leadership enabled him to press for their support for the Israel-Egypt peace process, although unsuccessfully.
Mr. Eilts retired from the foreign service in 1999 and started an international relations department at Boston University, where he taught. In his diplomatic career, he taught at the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pa., where he was also deputy commandant.
Obituary from New York Times
Mr. Eilts, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, was in the foreign service for 32 years, almost all of them in the Middle East, where he worked in Egypt, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. He also served in England, as a monitor of the Middle East.
He was also a figure in major events, advising Mr. Kissinger who, as secretary of state, shuttled between Egypt and Israel in 1974 and 1975, when Mr. Eilts was the ambassador to Egypt. During the first part of his tenure in Egypt, he represented American interests in a section of the Spanish Embassy in Cairo, after diplomatic ties with the United States were cut off during the 1967 war with Israel.
In 1978, The New York Times said that Mr. Eilts was “one of the few ambassadors really trusted” by Mr. Kissinger, whose suspicion of career diplomats was well known.
He was born in Weissenfels Saale, Germany, on March 23, 1922. His family brought him to the United States when he was 4, and he grew up in Scranton, Pa., where his father worked for the railroad.
He became an American citizen in 1930 and graduated from Ursinus College in 1942. Before being drafted into the Army in World War II, he briefly attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he took a student job researching the legal status of Sudan under British and Egyptian control and became fascinated.
He served in Army intelligence in World War II in North Africa and Europe, earning medals including a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. After his discharge, Mr. Eilts earned a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies from the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington; it is now part of the Johns Hopkins University.
While there, he met Helen Josephine Brew, a former Navy Wave who was specializing in the Far East. He persuaded her to switch to studying the Middle East, and they married after he entered the foreign service. She survives him, along with his sons, Frederick, of Wichita, Kan., and Conrad Marshall Eilts of Bahrain, and four grandchildren.
Mr. Eilts was ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1965 to 1970. In his first tour there in the 40’s, he had many meetings with the founder of the kingdom, King Abdul Aziz. The trust he established at the highest levels of the Saudi leadership enabled him to press for their support for the Israel-Egypt peace process, although unsuccessfully.
Mr. Eilts retired from the foreign service in 1999 and started an international relations department at Boston University, where he taught. In his diplomatic career, he taught at the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pa., where he was also deputy commandant.
Obituary from New York Times
Hermann Frederick Eilts, who as a diplomat in the Middle East helped Henry A. Kissinger with his shuttle diplomacy, nursed President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt through the Camp David peace talks and dodged a Libyan hit team.
Mr. Eilts, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, was in the foreign service for 32 years, almost all of them in the Middle East, where he worked in Egypt, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. He also served in England, as a monitor of the Middle East.
He was also a figure in major events, advising Mr. Kissinger who, as secretary of state, shuttled between Egypt and Israel in 1974 and 1975, when Mr. Eilts was the ambassador to Egypt. During the first part of his tenure in Egypt, he represented American interests in a section of the Spanish Embassy in Cairo, after diplomatic ties with the United States were cut off during the 1967 war with Israel.
In 1978, The New York Times said that Mr. Eilts was “one of the few ambassadors really trusted” by Mr. Kissinger, whose suspicion of career diplomats was well known.
He was born in Weissenfels Saale, Germany, on March 23, 1922. His family brought him to the United States when he was 4, and he grew up in Scranton, Pa., where his father worked for the railroad.
He became an American citizen in 1930 and graduated from Ursinus College in 1942. Before being drafted into the Army in World War II, he briefly attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he took a student job researching the legal status of Sudan under British and Egyptian control and became fascinated.
He served in Army intelligence in World War II in North Africa and Europe, earning medals including a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. After his discharge, Mr. Eilts earned a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies from the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington; it is now part of the Johns Hopkins University.
While there, he met Helen Josephine Brew, a former Navy Wave who was specializing in the Far East. He persuaded her to switch to studying the Middle East, and they married after he entered the foreign service. She survives him, along with his sons, Frederick, of Wichita, Kan., and Conrad Marshall Eilts of Bahrain, and four grandchildren.
Mr. Eilts was ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1965 to 1970. In his first tour there in the 40’s, he had many meetings with the founder of the kingdom, King Abdul Aziz. The trust he established at the highest levels of the Saudi leadership enabled him to press for their support for the Israel-Egypt peace process, although unsuccessfully.
Mr. Eilts retired from the foreign service in 1999 and started an international relations department at Boston University, where he taught. In his diplomatic career, he taught at the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pa., where he was also deputy commandant.
Obituary from New York Times
Mr. Eilts, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, was in the foreign service for 32 years, almost all of them in the Middle East, where he worked in Egypt, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. He also served in England, as a monitor of the Middle East.
He was also a figure in major events, advising Mr. Kissinger who, as secretary of state, shuttled between Egypt and Israel in 1974 and 1975, when Mr. Eilts was the ambassador to Egypt. During the first part of his tenure in Egypt, he represented American interests in a section of the Spanish Embassy in Cairo, after diplomatic ties with the United States were cut off during the 1967 war with Israel.
In 1978, The New York Times said that Mr. Eilts was “one of the few ambassadors really trusted” by Mr. Kissinger, whose suspicion of career diplomats was well known.
He was born in Weissenfels Saale, Germany, on March 23, 1922. His family brought him to the United States when he was 4, and he grew up in Scranton, Pa., where his father worked for the railroad.
He became an American citizen in 1930 and graduated from Ursinus College in 1942. Before being drafted into the Army in World War II, he briefly attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he took a student job researching the legal status of Sudan under British and Egyptian control and became fascinated.
He served in Army intelligence in World War II in North Africa and Europe, earning medals including a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. After his discharge, Mr. Eilts earned a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies from the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington; it is now part of the Johns Hopkins University.
While there, he met Helen Josephine Brew, a former Navy Wave who was specializing in the Far East. He persuaded her to switch to studying the Middle East, and they married after he entered the foreign service. She survives him, along with his sons, Frederick, of Wichita, Kan., and Conrad Marshall Eilts of Bahrain, and four grandchildren.
Mr. Eilts was ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1965 to 1970. In his first tour there in the 40’s, he had many meetings with the founder of the kingdom, King Abdul Aziz. The trust he established at the highest levels of the Saudi leadership enabled him to press for their support for the Israel-Egypt peace process, although unsuccessfully.
Mr. Eilts retired from the foreign service in 1999 and started an international relations department at Boston University, where he taught. In his diplomatic career, he taught at the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pa., where he was also deputy commandant.
Obituary from New York Times
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