Edwin Milton Wright (1897–1987) was an American foreign policy specialist. Employed by the U.S. State Department from 1945 to 1955 in a number of capacities, he was especially involved in the events leading up to and surrounding the establishment of Israel.
Life
Wright was born in Tabriz, the son of American missionaries. Educated at Wooster College and Columbia University, he worked on refugee resettlement in Iraq from 1921 to 1924, and from 1924 until 1937 taught in American secondary schools in Iran. When World War II broke out, as one of the few Americans who could speak Persian he was recruited into US intelligence.
He served as a Middle East specialist for the U.S. State Department from 1945 to 1946; on the Bureau for Near East, South Asian, and African Affairs from 1946 to 1947; as an advisor on United Nations affairs from 1947 to 1950, and as an advisor on intelligence from 1950 to 1955.
References
- Teresa Fava Thomas (2016). American Arabists in the Cold War Middle East, 1946-75: From Orientalism to Professionalism. Anthem Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-78308-510-1.
- 'Who's Who in the Middle East and North Africa', The Middle East and North Africa 1965-66, Europa Publications Limited, 1966.
- Zachary Lockman (2016). Field Notes: The Making of Middle East Studies in the United States. Stanford University Press. pp. 28–9. ISBN 978-0-8047-9958-4.
External links
- Biography from the Truman Library
- Richard D. McKinzie interview with Edwin M. Wright
- A Tale of Two Hamlets by Edwin M. Wright
- Torah, Zionism and Palestine by Edwin M. Wright
- The Great Zionist Cover-Up: A Study and Interpretation by Edwin M. Wright
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