Selden Chapin

Selden Chapin
Chapin in the Netherlands in 1951
1st Director General of the Foreign Service
In office November 13, 1946 – April 30, 1947
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Christian M. Ravndal
United States Ambassador to Peru
In office May 7, 1960 – August 7, 1960
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	Theodore Achilles
Succeeded by	James Loeb
United States Ambassador to Iran
In office 1955–1958
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	Loy W. Henderson
Succeeded by	Edward T. Wailes
United States Ambassador to Panama
In office January 2, 1954 – May 29, 1955
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	John C. Wiley
Succeeded by	Julian F. Harrington
United States Ambassador to the Netherlands
In office October 27, 1949 – October 30, 1953
President	Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	Herman B. Baruch
Succeeded by	H. Freeman Matthews
United States Ambassador to Hungary
In office July 9, 1947 – February 17, 1949
President	Harry S. Truman
Preceded by	H. F. Arthur Schoenfeld
Succeeded by	Nathaniel P. Davis
Personal details
Born	(1899-09-19)September 19, 1899 Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	March 26, 1963(1963-03-26) (aged 63)
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery
Spouse	Mary Paul Noyes (m. 1927)
Children	Frederic L. Chapin Helen Chapin Metz
Relatives	Hope Cooke (niece and ward)
Alma mater	United States Naval Academy
Occupation	Diplomat
Military service
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1919–1925

Selden Chapin (September 19, 1899 – March 26, 1963) was a career foreign service officer and United States diplomat.

Biography

Selden Chapin was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, the son of Captain Frederic Lincoln Chapin (who was commander of the battle ship Wyoming) and his wife Grace Card (Selden) Chapin. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1919 and served in the U.S. Navy from 1919 to 1925. He married Mary Paul Noyes, March 30, 1927.

He was appointed a foreign service officer in March 1925. After the liberation of Paris in August 1944, he served as Charge d'Affaires in the American Embassy in the absence of an ambassador, since France formally broke off diplomatic relations with the U.S. after the Torch Invasion of North Africa in November 1942. Jefferson Caffery assumed the ambassadorship on 30 December 1944. Later Chapin was the U.S. ambassador to Hungary, Iran, Netherlands, Peru and Panama. Chapin and his wife are interred in Arlington National Cemetery.

His son was Frederic L. Chapin, ambassador to Ethiopia and Guatemala, and his daughter was Middle East analyst Helen Chapin Metz. His niece and ward is Hope Cooke, former wife of the last king of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal.