Henry de Torrenté
Henry de Torrenté was a Swiss lawyer, diplomat and Envoy of the Swiss Confederation to China and the United Kingdom and Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation to the United States. His family originated from Sion.
Education and career
After studying political science, commerce and social sciences in Bern, Basel and Geneva, he completed a legal internship in England and worked as a lawyer and notary from 1919 onwards. In 1922, Henry de Torrenté joined the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, where he participated in international conferences on social legislation.
The relocation of the Swiss Legation and the early war years in Paris
Under the direction of the Swiss envoy, Minister Alphonse Dunant, and on the recommendation of Walter Stucki, Henry de Torrenté became the head of the trade department of the Swiss Legation in Paris in 1929, located at 51 Avenue Hoche. In 1932, together with Minister Alphonse Dunant, Henry de Torrenté prepared the visit of Federal Councillor Edmund Schulthess and Walter Stucki to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs at the Quai d'Orsay. Six years later, in 1938, under the logistical responsibility of Henry de Torrenté, the legation was relocated to its new building, the Hôtel de Besenval. The Hôtel de Besenval has strong historical links to Switzerland, as it was once the residence of Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, a Swiss military officer in French service and confidant of Queen Marie Antoinette.
Holding the line in Paris
From July 1940, after the Battle of France, the Capture of Paris and the Fall of the Third Republic on 22 June 1940, the legation in Paris served solely to represent the interests of Switzerland in Occupied France. De facto, the legation was downgraded to a consulate. However, the official downgrade did not occur until the summer of 1941 under pressure from Germany, when the Germans demanded that Switzerland no longer represents its interests in the territory of Occupied France from Paris, but from Berlin. But already in June 1940, Minister Walter Stucki, together with Legation Secretary Pierre Dupont, as well as a large part of the French ruling elite, including Prime Minister Maréchal Philippe Pétain, had withdrawn to Vichy. Meanwhile, Walter Stucki's deputy, Legation Councillor Henry de Torrenté, remained in Paris.
Back in Bern
In 1941, after the official downgrade of the legation to a consulate, Henry de Torrenté returned to Bern and joined the Federal Office of Commerce at the Federal Department of Economic Affairs in 1942. As the Federal Council's delegate for trade agreements, he negotiated primarily with France, Spain, Portugal, and the Allies.
In 1945, Henry de Torrenté was appointed Envoy of the Swiss Confederation with the title of Minister. In this capacity, he was appointed head of the Diplomatic and Consular Mission in China in 1946, where he opened the first Swiss Legation in Nanjing. In 1948, he was appointed Envoy of the Swiss Confederation to the United Kingdom. His term of office in London lasted until 1954. From 1955 onwards, first as Minister and from 1957 to 1960 as Ambassador, he represented Switzerland's interests in the US, with residence in Washington. In the USA he dealt mainly with issues in the fields of banking, watchmaking and science.
Honours and death
Henry de Torrenté was an honorary doctor of the University of Geneva and a colonel in the General Staff . His ancestors served as officers in Naples for the then ruling dynasty, the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He died at the age of 69 in London.