Directory
The Diplomats
Refugees, asylees, and displaced persons who went on to serve the United States in diplomacy.
Each person below came to the United States as a refugee, asylee, or displaced person, or fled persecution, and later served at the U.S. Department of State or represented the United States as an ambassador. The list is limited to people whose story is told in a published source, and it grows as new stories are documented.
Southeast Asia
Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia after 1975
| Name | Fled | Arrived | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jessica Adler (Hoang Seang Ear) | Vietnam | about 1980 | Deputy Refugee Coordinator, U.S. Embassy Bangkok (2006) |
| Tu Dang | Vietnam | not stated | Foreign Affairs Officer, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (Civil Service, from 2006) |
| Nhat-Hang Claire Duong | Vietnam | 1975 | Strategic adviser, Bureau of Human Resources (from 2013) |
| Tony Hornik-Tran | Vietnam | early 1980s | Diplomatic Security Special Agent from 2002 |
| Anne D. Pham | Vietnam | 1975 | Foreign Service |
| Andy Pham | Vietnam | 1982 | Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State |
| Songkane Sackaly | Laos | after 1987 | Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Department of State |
| Sichan Siv | Cambodia | 1976 | Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (1989 to 1993) |
| Hoa Tran | Vietnam | 1975 | Civil Service, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration |
Europe and the Soviet Union
Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, and the Iron Curtain
| Name | Fled | Arrived | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Akalovsky | Yugoslavia | 1949 | Department of State interpreter, language services, from 1956 |
| Madeleine Korbel Albright | Czechoslovakia | 1948 | 64th Secretary of State (1997 to 2001) |
| W. Michael Blumenthal | Nazi Germany, by way of Shanghai | 1947 | Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (Kennedy administration) |
| Anya Yakhedts Brunson | Soviet Union | 1990 | Presidential Management Fellow (2006) |
| John Gunther Dean | Nazi Germany | 1939 | U.S. Ambassador to the Khmer Republic (1974 to 1975), Denmark, Lebanon, Thailand, and India |
| Timothy Eydelnant | Belarus (Soviet Union) | 1989 | Foreign Service Officer |
| Marina Grayson | Ukraine | not stated | Foreign Service Officer |
| Henry A. Grunwald | Austria | about 1940 | U.S. Ambassador to Austria (1988 to 1990) |
| George W. Jaeger | Austria | 1940 | Senior Foreign Service officer |
| Henry A. Kissinger | Nazi Germany | 1938 | 56th Secretary of State (1973 to 1977) |
| William D. Krimer | Russia and Nazi Germany | 1941 | Chief Russian interpreter, U.S. Department of State (1963 to 1982) |
| Nikolina Kulidzan | Bosnia and Herzegovina | at age 18 | Foreign Service Officer (public diplomacy) |
| George W. Landau | Austria | 1941 | U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay (1972 to 1977), Chile (1977 to 1982), and Venezuela (1982 to 1985) |
| Andreas F. Lowenfeld | Nazi Germany | about 1938 | Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State (1960s) |
| Tom Malinowski | Poland | about 1971 | Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (2014 to 2017) |
| Karl F. Mautner | Austria | 1940 | Foreign Service Officer |
| George F. Muller | Austria | 1939 | Foreign Service Officer from 1949 |
| Tibor P. Nagy Jr. | Hungary | 1957 | Ambassador to Guinea and to Ethiopia |
| Robert G. Neumann | Austria | after 1938 | U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, to Morocco, and to Saudi Arabia |
| Rudolf V. Perina | Czechoslovakia | 1951 | Ambassador to Moldova (1998 to 2001) |
| Roman Popadiuk | Ukraine (born in a displaced persons camp) | early 1950s | First U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (1992 to 1993) |
| Felix Rohatyn | Austria and occupied France | 1942 | U.S. Ambassador to France (1997 to 2000) |
| Richard Schifter | Austria | 1938 | Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs (1985 to 1992) |
| Ints M. Siliņš | Latvia | 1949 | First U.S. Ambassador to Latvia (1992 to 1995) |
| Helmut Sonnenfeldt | Nazi Germany | 1944 | Director, Office of Research on the USSR and Eastern Europe |
| Herbert J. Spiro | Nazi Germany | about 1939 | Policy Planning Staff (from 1970) |
| Martina Anna Tkadlec Strong | Czechoslovakia | 1982 | Career Foreign Service Officer |
| Vladimir I. Toumanoff | Russia, by way of Constantinople | 1923 | Foreign Service Officer for 25 years |
Cuba
The exodus after the 1959 revolution
| Name | Fled | Arrived | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eduardo Aguirre Jr. | Cuba | 1961 | U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra (2005 to 2009) |
| Omar Cardentey | Cuba | as a young child | Foreign Service Officer (public diplomacy) since 2009 |
| Alberto M. Fernandez | Cuba | 1959 | Senior Foreign Service |
| Victor Garcia-Rivera | Cuba | as a child | Foreign Service Officer (from 2012) |
| Lino Gutiérrez | Cuba | 1962 | U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua (1996 to 1999) and to Argentina (2003 to 2006) |
| Hugo Llorens | Cuba | 1962 | U.S. Ambassador to Honduras (2008 to 2011) |
| Carlos Pascual | Cuba | about 1961 | U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (2000 to 2003) and to Mexico (2009 to 2011) |
| José S. Sorzano | Cuba | 1960 | U.S. Representative to the UN Economic and Social Council |
Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa
Invasion, revolution, and civil war
| Name | Fled | Arrived | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baktash Ahadi | Afghanistan | about 1986 | Instructor, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State |
| Rina Amiri | Afghanistan | 1970s | Senior adviser to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan |
| Ellie Cohanim | Iran | 1979 | Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism (2019 to 2021) |
| Herro Mustafa Garg | Iraq | 1976 | Foreign Service Officer since 1999 |
| Della Herrmann | Iran | about 1979 | Foreign Service Political Officer |
| Rahima Kandahari | Afghanistan | not stated | Senior Foreign Service |
| Dr. Nabila Massoumi | Afghanistan | early 1980s | Foreign Service Regional English Language Officer |
| Gai Nyok | Sudan | 2001 | Pickering Fellow |
| Mustafa M. Popal | Afghanistan | 1987 | Foreign Service Officer since 2003 |
| Brian Santhumayor | Uganda | not stated | Crisis management specialist, Bureau of Consular Affairs (from 2011) |
| Sulaiman Toghral | Afghanistan | 1999 | Foreign Service Officer |
| Hamse Warfa | Somalia | 1994 | Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of State (from 2022) |
Others who fled
These officials also fled persecution as young people, though the published sources describe their departure rather than a formal refugee admission:
- Otto J. Reich left Cuba in 1960 at fifteen; his father had earlier fled Nazi Austria. He served as Ambassador to Venezuela and as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
- Nicholas A. Rey left Poland in September 1939 as the German invasion began. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Poland from 1993 to 1997.
- Charles Gati left Hungary during the 1956 revolution and later served as a senior adviser on the Department's Policy Planning Staff.
- Armando Valladares spent twenty-two years as a political prisoner in Cuba. After his release in 1982 he settled in exile, became a U.S. citizen, and served as U.S. Representative to the UN Human Rights Commission from 1988 to 1990.
- Mauricio Solaún went into exile from Cuba and became U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua from 1977 to 1979, the first Cuban American to serve as a U.S. ambassador.
See also Second Generation for the children of refugees who joined the Foreign Service.