Carl Berendsen

Sir Carl August Berendsen KCMG (16 August 1890 - 12 September 1973) was a New Zealand civil servant and diplomat. He was the creator of the Department of External Affairs, and collaborated with Michael Joseph Savage. He was Secretary for External Affairs 1928-32, Head of the Prime Minister's Department 1932-43, and Secretary of the War Cabinet 1939-43. He attended all Imperial Conferences 1926-43, and assemblies of the League of Nations and later the United Nations.

Berendsen served as the country's first High Commissioner to Australia, from 1943 until 1944. He was then transferred to Washington, D.C., where he served as Minister to the United States between 1944 and 1952.

He was born in Sydney, Australia, and educated (LLM) at Victoria University College. Berendsen served with New Zealand forces in Samoa in WWI. He was knighted in 1946.

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References

*"An eye, an ear and a voice: 50 years in New Zealand’s external relations" edited by Malcolm Templeton (1993, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Wellington NZ) ISBN 0477037259
*"Undiplomatic Dialogue: Letters between Carl Berendsen and Alister McIntosh 1943-1952" edited by Ian McGibbon (1993, Auckland University Press, Auckland NZ) ISBN 1 86940 095 X
*"Unofficial Channels: Letters between Alister McIntosh and Foss Shanahan, George Laking and Frank Corner 1946-1966" edited by Ian McGibbon (1999, Victoria University Press, Wellington NZ) ISBN 0 86473 365 8