R4101

Distinguished American Diplomats

Hiram Bingham IV - Vice Consul in Marseilles, France, during World War II

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Distinguished American Diplomates

Hiram Bingham IV

Bingham was boni to a well-to-do family in Connecticut and graduated from Yale University in 1925. He then went to Harvard where he concentrated on intemationnl law. In 1929 he entered the Foreign Service and served in China, Poland, and England.

In 1940 he was the United States Vice-Consul in Marseilles, France where he was in charge of issuing visas. Unknown to the American Government, for two years in direct violation of official United States policy, he issued visas and false passports to Jews and other refugees to assist them in escaping the occupying German authorities. Sometimes he hid those escaping in his own home. He is credited with saving over 2000 individuals from the Naris.

Incredibly, his heroic exploits were only discovered in the 1980s and 1990s after his death. In June of 2002, he was posthumously honored by the American Foreign Service with a special "Constructive Dissent" Award. He also has since been recognized by the United Nations for his humanitarian activities.

I'm pleased to honor this courageous American diplomat who stepped up in a time of extreme personal danger. Hiram Bingham IV — Collins #R4101 — $13.25.(Hiram Bingham IV 

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