Klaus Goldschlag *49

Klaus Goldschlag, a Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany and rose to become Canadian ambassador to West Germany, died Jan. 30, 2012, of pancreatic cancer. He was 89.

In 1937, a Canadian businessman adopted an impoverished, teen-aged Goldschlag and brought him to Canada. Goldschlag graduated from the University of Toronto in 1944, and then joined the Canadian Army fighting in Europe. Returning to Toronto, he earned a master’s degree in 1947. He received a second master’s from Princeton in Oriental languages and literatures in 1949.

That year, Goldschlag became a foreign service officer; he served in India, London, and Vienna before becoming Canada’s ambassador to Turkey (1967 to 1971) and Italy (1973 to 1976), deputy undersecretary of state for external affairs, and finally ambassador to West Germany (1980). While in Berlin having elective surgery, he suffered a horrendous medical blunder that ended his career. Enduring the equivalent of a serious stroke, Goldschlag persevered for his remaining three decades.

Allan Gotlieb, Canadian undersecretary of state for external affairs from 1977 to 1981 and later ambassador to the United States, said Goldschlag “was one of the most remarkable diplomats in our modern history” as well as a “delightfully amusing and witty individual.”

Goldschlag was predeceased in 1991 by his wife, Shirley-Anne. He is survived by three daughters and eight grandchildren.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.