Portal:Norway/Selected biography/16

Florence Jaffray Harriman (July 21, 1870 – August 31, 1967) was an American socialite, suffragist, social reformer, organizer, and later, a courageous diplomat. In 1937, Harriman was appointed as the United States' Minister to Norway. (Her precise title was "Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary" for Norway.) In 1940, Germany invaded Norway with little warning, causing Minister Harriman and the rest of the American legation in Norway to join certain members of the Norwegian royal family and other refugees seeking protection hundreds of kilometers away in Sweden. Harriman is credited with arranging for the safety of other Americans and several members of the Norwegian royal family – Crown Princess Märtha and her children Ragnhild, Astrid and Harald. She returned to the Nordic countries to complete the evacuation of current and future U.S. citizens through Finland on the United States Army transport USAT American Legion in August 1940. Her service in Norway, and the harrowing escape, became the subject of her next book, Mission to the North, published in 1941. In her ninety-second year, U.S. President John F. Kennedy honored her by awarding her the first "Citation of Merit for Distinguished Service." (Full article...)