Arturo Sarukhán

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Arturo Sarukhán Casamitjana (born September 14, 1963) is a Mexican diplomat. He is the current Ambassador of Mexico to the United States, a former Consul General at New York City, and served as foreign policy coordinator in Felipe Calderón's presidential campaign and transition team (February – November 2006).

His grandfather, Artur Sarukhanian, was a Russian Armenian aide to Alexander Kerensky. After Kerensky was overthrown by the Bolsheviks, Sarukhanian moved to Venice, Italy where he trained at the Mechitarist seminary. Sarukhán's grandmother fled to Thessaloniki, Greece during the Armenian Genocide, then moved to Venice, where she met and later married Sarukhanian. Shortly after Benito Mussolini came to power, they left Italy for Mexico.^[1]

Sarukhan graduated from El Colegio de México with a bachelor's degree in International Relations and received a master's degree in U.S. Foreign Policy at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C.

He has served in different posts at the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs and has represented Mexico at the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL). As an academic, he has taught several courses at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), at the National Defense College, at the Inter-American Defense College and at the National Defense University of the United States.^[2]

On 3 February 2006, he left his post at the Consulate General in New York City to join Felipe Calderón's presidential campaign as coordinator of foreign affairs and foreign policy.^[2]

He was appointed Ambassador to the United States in January 2007.

[edit] References

The Washington Diplomat Newspaper - Ambassador Profile