Gunnar Gerring

Gunnar Gerring was a Swedish diplomat. Gerring had a long diplomatic career, beginning with postings in Hamburg, Moscow, and Budapest before becoming a second secretary at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1947. He held key roles in trade negotiations and UN delegations before serving in embassies across Washington, D.C., Ankara, Bern, and Bonn. He was later appointed ambassador to Sofia, Baghdad, Kuwait City, and Wellington, also overseeing relations with Fiji, Tonga, and Western Samoa. His career also included a leadership role in the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission in Korea and teaching at the Swedish National Defence College.

Early life

Gerring was born on 25 October 1916 in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of lector, PhD Hugo Gerring and his wife Hillan. He passed the studentexamen in 1934 and the reserve officers' exam in 1939. In 1939, he earned a Candidate of Law degree from Uppsala University. Gerring completed his clerkship at Stockholm City Court from 1940 to 1942 before becoming an attaché at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1942.

Gerring served in Hamburg in 1942, Moscow in 1943, and Budapest in 1946 before becoming a second secretary at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1947. He was a member of the Swedish-Hungarian government commission in 1948 and acted as a representative in trade negotiations with Bulgaria, Hungary, and Yugoslavia. He also served as secretary for the UN delegation in Paris in 1948 and in New York City in 1950.
He was posted as an embassy secretary in Washington, D.C. in 1949 and Ankara in 1951, promoted to first secretary at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1952, and served as first embassy secretary in Bern in 1957. He returned to the ministry as first secretary in 1959 and served as assistant teacher at the Swedish National Defence College from 1961 to 1962. Gerring became counselor at the embassy in Bonn in 1962, and was appointed ambassador to Sofia and later to Baghdad and Kuwait City. In 1974, he attended the Swedish National Defence College before serving as head of the Swedish delegation to the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission in Korea from 10 April 1974 to 30 April 1975. He then returned to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1975 and was appointed ambassador to Wellington from 1979 to 1982.

In 1951 he married Ingrid Wikander. He was the father of Erik Gunnar and Carl Gustaf.

Gerring died on 16 April 2009 in in Stockholm. He was buried at Nacka Northern Cemetery.