Charles Burke Elbrick
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| Charles Burke Elbrick | |
 Career Ambassador the Hon. Charles Burke Elbrick |
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53rd United States Ambassador to Portugal
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| In office January 13, 1959 – August 31, 1963 |
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| Preceded by | James C. H. Bonbright |
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| Succeeded by | George W. Anderson, Jr. |
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| In office March 17, 1964 – April 28, 1969 |
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| Preceded by | George F. Kennan |
| Succeeded by | William Leonhart |
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| In office July 14, 1969 – May 7, 1970 |
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| Preceded by | John W. Tuthill |
| Succeeded by | William M. Rountree |
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| Born | March 25, 1908 Louisville, Kentucky, USA |
| Died | April 12, 1983 (aged 75) Washington DC |
| Profession | Career Diplomat |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Hon. Charles Burke Elbrick, (b. Louisville, Kentucky, 25th March 1908, d. Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, D.C., 12th April 1983), was the son of Charles Elbrick and his Irish wife Lillian Burke.
Elbrick graduated with a leading Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College in 1929, and narrowly missed selection for a Rhodes Scholarship.
Having joined the United States Foreign Service in 1931, Elbrick was initially appointed Vice Consul in Panama. He continued on to Haiti and then acted as Third Secretary in Warsaw, Poland. In 1939 Elbrick had followed the Polish Government into exile. While leaving Warsaw in convoy, he was strafed by German planes. Elbrick returned to Poland in June 1945 to reopen the US Embassy. He was promoted to Assistant Secretary (to the Secretary of State) for European Affairs in 1957. Thereafter, Ambassador Elbrick was variously the representative of the United States to Portugal (1958), Yugoslavia (1964) and Brazil (1969).
In August 1968, when Soviet-led forces invaded Czechoslovakia, Elbrick, then Ambassador in Belgrade, was summoned by Marshal Tito to be asked what United States policy was toward Yugoslavia in such a moment.
The same as always, Elbrick said. To support Yugoslav independence and integrity. Do you need any help? Not now, said Tito, thanking Ambassador Elbrick for inquiring.
A year later, while stationed in Brazil, Charles Burke Elbrick was kidnapped for 78 hours by the Revolutionary Movement 8th October in Rio de Janeiro, on September 4, 1969. The incident formed the basis of the 1997 Bruno Barreto film Four Days in September (O Que É Isso, Companheiro?), starring Alan Arkin, Pedro Cardoso and Fisher Stevens. The storyline was adapted from the 1979 memoirs of Fernando Gabeira, former member of revolutionary cell MR-8 and latterly a journalist and congressman in Brazil's Green Party. After his release in exchange for 15 imprisoned leftists, Ambassador Elbrick coolly remarked, Being an ambassador is not always a bed of roses.
In 1969 he was honoured by the President of the United States with the rank of Career Ambassador, and following his retirement in 1973, Ambassador Elbrick was awarded the Foreign Service Cup.
Elbrick spoke Portuguese as well as Spanish, French and German, and was regarded as an expert on Iberia and Eastern Europe.
He was married to Elvira Lindsay Johnson (1910-1990), whose mother was Caroline Gilbert Johnson (a direct descendant of the founder of Gilbertsville, New York (1787) Abijah Gilbert and his grandson, also Abijah Gilbert, United States Senator for Florida a year after its secession from the Union). Elbrick's father-in-law was Vice Admiral Alfred Wilkinson Johnson, who was the son of Rear Admiral Philip Carrigan Johnson- a commander of the USS Constitution, and the nephew of celebrated artist Eastman Johnson.
Charles Burke Elbrick had two children- Alfred Johnson Elbrick (b. Norfolk, Virginia, 12th November, 1938) and Valerie Elvira Elbrick (b. Washington D.C., 21st March, 1942). He was survived by two grandchildren by his daughter Valerie, Charles Burke and Nicholas Seth Hanlon (married to Abigail Rao), and by four by his son Alfred (married to Fern Evelyn Bendall), Tristan Charles Johnson (married to Francesca, Duchess of Acerenza), Sophie Evelyn Stephanie Merrilees (married to Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy), Alexia Elvira Caroline Hannah (married to Ryan Kerney), and Tony-nominated actress Xanthe Eleanora Marie Davina.
Ambassador Elbrick was knighted in the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta ('Order of Malta') by the Prince and Grand Master, Fra' Angelo de Mojana di Cologna. He was knighted in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre by the Grand Master, His Eminence Maximilian, Cardinal de Furstenberg. His funeral was held at St. Matthew's Cathedral, Washington DC.
His New York Times obituary on April 15th 1983 described Ambassador Elbrick as: ' a tall, slender man of suave demeanor in exquisite suits...[who]...showed dash and bravery in moments of crisis'.
