Background
Engert, Cornelius Van H. was born on December 31, 1887 in Vienna, Austria. Son of John Cornelius and Mary (Babbitt) Engert.
Engert, Cornelius Van H. was born on December 31, 1887 in Vienna, Austria. Son of John Cornelius and Mary (Babbitt) Engert.
Brought to the United States as child. Bachelor of Letters California, 1909, Master of Literature, 1910, student Law School, 1908-1911. Le Conte Memorial fellow Harvard, 1911-1912.
; children—Roderick, Sheila (Mistress F. Gillen). Teaching fellow history University of California, 1909-1911. Attache American embassy, Constantinople, Turkey, 1912-1916, represented embassy at Chanak during Dardanelles campaign, 1914-1915.
Special mission to Syria and Palestine, 1916-1917, interned by Turks for several weeks upon rupture diplomatic relations with United States, 1917.
Attached to Viscount Ishii’s Japanese mission to the United States, 1917. 3d secretary American legation, The Hague, 1917-1919.
Assistant to the United States High Commissioner, Constantinople, 1919-1920. 2d secretary legation, Tehran, Iran, 1920-1922.
First United States Diplomatic officer to visit Kabul, Afghanistan, 1922.
Department State, 1922-1923. 1st sec.Am. embassy, Havana, Cuba, 1923-1925, San Salvador, Central America, 1925-1926, negotiated and signed Treaty Friendship between United States and Republic El Salvador, 1926. 1st secretary Santiago, Chile, 1926-1927, Caracas, Venezuela, 1927-1930, Peking, China, 1930-1933, Cairo, Egypt, 1933-1935.
Minister resident and consul general, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (during Italian War), 1935-1937.
Charge d’affaires, Tehran, 1937-1940. Consul general Beirut and Damascus, 1940-1942.
In charge British interests, Syrian campaign, 1941. 1st United States minister plenipotentiary to reside in Kabul, Afghanistan, 1942-1945.
Traveled overland, Kabul to Moscow, via Bokhara and Samarkand, 1945, visited Katmandu, Nepal, 1945.
Assistant and acting diplomatic adviser United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, 1946-1947. Special mission to Middle East, 1946. Representative International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Middle East, India, Pakistan and Ceylon, 1948-1951.
Founder (with others) Anglo-American College, Oxfordshire, England, 1966, lecturer at college, 1968.
Founder (with others) American Friends of Middle East, Incorporated., 1951, member board directors 1951-1970. Consultant Common Market, 1959-1985.
Fellow American Geography Society, Royal Georgia Society, Royal Central Asian Society. Clubs: Sierra (San Francisco).
Married Sara Cunningham, December 16, 1922 (deceased. Children: Roderick, Sheila (Mistress F. Gillen).