Hugh H. Smythe

American author, sociologist, diplomat and professor

Hugh H. Smythe


United States Ambassador to Malta
In office December 29, 1967 – August 16, 1969
President	Lyndon Johnson Richard Nixon
Preceded by	George Joseph Feldman
Succeeded by	John C. Pritzlaff, Jr.
United States Ambassador to Syria
In office October 28, 1965 – June 8, 1967
President	Lyndon Johnson
Preceded by	Ridgway Brewster Knight
Succeeded by	Thomas James Scotes

Personal details
Born	Hugh Heyne Smythe (1913-08-19)August 19, 1913 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	June 22, 1977(1977-06-22) (aged 63) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Spouse	Mabel Murphy (m. 1939)
Alma mater	Virginia State University Atlanta University Northwestern University
Profession	Diplomat, professor, sociologist

Hugh Heyne Smythe (August 19, 1913 – June 22, 1977) was an American author, sociologist, diplomat and professor. He was an authority on African anthropology and East Asian studies. He served as the United States Ambassador to Syria from 1965 to 1967 and United States Ambassador to Malta from 1967 to 1969.^[1]

Smythe taught sociology and anthropology at the university level at multiple schools, both in the United States and abroad. From 1951 to 1953, he taught at the Yamaguchi National University as a Visiting Professor of Sociology and Anthropology.^[2] From 1962 to 1965, he taught sociology at Brooklyn College. At the same time, he worked as a Fulbright Professor at Chulalongkorn University.

From 1961 to 1962, Smythe was a senior adviser in economic and social affairs to the US Mission to the United Nations. He also served a tour as the US senior advisor to the National Research Council in Thailand.^[2]

Smythe was the tenth African-American U.S. ambassador and the first to a Middle Eastern country. His tenure coincided with the Six-Day War and the severing of diplomatic ties with the United States. He later became notorious for the "Smythe Telegram" that he wrote during the increasing tensions before the war, where he demanded that the U.S. return to a pro-Arab foreign policy and said that the U.S. should ignore previous promises to Israel that Egypt would not be allowed to ban Israeli ships from transiting the Straits of Tiran. He left the country on June 8, 1967.

References

^ "Hugh Heyne Smythe (1913–1977)". Office of the Historian.
^ ^a ^b "Ambassadors Named to Jamaica, Jordan, Malta, Senegal, Gambia". State Department Newsletter: 20 – via Hathitrust.

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Ridgway B. Knight	U.S. Ambassador to Syria 1965–1967	Succeeded by Thomas J. Scotes
Preceded by George J. Feldman	U.S. Ambassador to Malta 1967–1969	Succeeded by John C. Pritzlaff, Jr.