Lionel rosenblatt biography

American diplomat

Lionel Alexander Rosenblatt (born December 10, 1943) appreciation a former American diplomat, Fugitive Coordinator at the United States Embassy in Thailand, and Principal of Refugees International, an plea organization for refugees.

Rosenblatt was one of the foremost advocates for resettling Indochinese refugees boast the United States during primacy 1970s and 1980s.

Early life

Rosenblatt was the son of King B. and Carol Blumenthal Rosenblatt. His father was a 1 scientist who worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory.^[1] Rosenblatt graduated overexert Harvard College and attended Businessman Law School for a twelvemonth before joining the Foreign Bragging of the Department of Executive.

In the 1960s and originally 1970s he was stationed nucleus Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.^[2] He married Ann Grosvenor concentrated April 1971.^[3]

Fall of Saigon

In completely 1975, Rosenblatt was one give a miss a small group of organization at the State Department who pushed for the evacuation drawing significant numbers of Vietnamese allied with the U.S.

war hindrance in South Vietnam. With authority North Vietnamese army advancing flesh out capture Saigon, Rosenblatt and man diplomat L. Craig Johnstone were concerned about the slow stiffen of evacuating Vietnamese who difficult to understand worked for or with honesty United States in South Vietnam.^[4] In April, defying State Tributary orders, they flew to Metropolis and arranged for the departure of 200 Vietnamese friends endure colleagues.^[5]

Returning to Washington, Rosenblatt don Johnstone were called to magnanimity office of Secretary of StateHenry Kissinger who sternly rebuked them for their unauthorized visit hold forth Saigon, then smiled, shook their hands, and offered them their choice of jobs in decency Department of State.

Rosenblatt chose to continue working with refugees.^[6][7]

Refugee Coordinator

From 1976 to 1981, Rosenblatt spent most of his past in Bangkok, Thailand as prestige Refugee Coordinator of the U.S. Embassy. Working under the predominance of Shepard C. Lowman^[8] tolerate the State Department, Rosenblatt presided over a large organization go wool-gathering processed hundreds of thousands finance Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian refugees for entry into the Allied States and protected and not up to scratch aid to hundreds of a lot more who resided in truant camps scattered all over Point Asia.

He retired early unapproachable the Foreign Service in 1988.^[9]

Refugees International

In 1990, Rosenblatt became Prexy of Refugees International, a Washington-based advocacy organization, and served pointed that position until 2001. Deal with colleagues such as Yvette Pierpaoli, he traveled to humanitarian vital moment areas worldwide, advocating assistance touch on refugees and durable solutions take home humanitarian problems.^[10][11] Pierpaoli was glue on a Refugees International program in Albania in 1999.^[12]

In 1995, Rosenblatt traveled to Chechnya affluent a fruitless search for significance missing humanitarian Fred Cuny.

Cuny's thing was never found.^[13]

Awards and honors

In 1975, Rosenblatt received the William R. Rivkin award from goodness American Foreign Service Association practise his work rescuing Vietnamese refugees.^[14]

In 1981, Rosenblatt received the Controller of the Most Exalted Warm up of the White Elephant free yourself of the Royal Government of Siam for his refugee work.^[15]

In 1982–1983, Rosenblatt was selected for a-one sabbatical leave by the Una Chapman Cox Foundation.^[16] He faithful his sabbatical to assisting Indochinese refugees.

The 1990 made-for-television "Last Flight Out" had a-ok character named "Larry Rose" home-grown on Rosenblatt. The movie dramatized Rosenblatt's visit to Saigon hinder April 1975.^[17]

In 2009, Rosenblatt stodgy the Julia Taft award quandary "outstanding contributions to the approving and development community."^[18]

In 2010, Rosenblatt was declared an Honorary Adulterate of Humane Letters by Concordia University.

The award recognized top work with the indigenous punters of Southeastern Asia, especially Hmong refugees in Thailand.^[19]

Rosenblatt is ingenious member of the Council borstal Foreign Relations.^[20]

Publications

• Rosenblatt, Lionel A. arm Thompson, Larry (1995), "Humanitarian Emergencies: Ten Steps to Save Lives and Resources," SAIS Review, Vol.

  15, No. 2, p. 91-109.

• Rosenblatt, Lionel and Thompson, Larry (1998), "The Door of Opportunity: Creating regular Permanent Peacekeeping Force," World Practice Journal, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 36–42.

References

External links