Kauffmann started his foreign career by serving as envoy in Rome, 1921–1923. He afterwards served in Peking in 1924–1932 when he was succeeded by Oscar O'Neill Oxholm. During this period Kauffmann became notable for three things: political reports of high quality; an ability to gain close contacts with central Chinese decision makers; and his lavish spending.[1] After his time in Peking, Kauffmann served as envoy in Oslo 1932–1939 (when he was, again, succeeded by Oxholm), where he helped soften the Danish-Norwegian relations following the Greenland case.[1]
Kauffmann's treaty was approved by the local officials on Greenland but declared void by the Danish government in Copenhagen. Kauffmann ignored this protest, citing the fact that Denmark was occupied by a hostile power; consequently, he considered the government incapable of protecting Danish interests.[2] The government responded by charging Kauffmann with high treason and stripping him of his rank. Kauffmann ignored both actions. Kauffmann's line was supported by the Danish consuls general in the United States, as well as by the Danish ambassador to Iran. These diplomats were dismissed as well. Kauffmann replied by urging Danish diplomats around the world not to follow instructions from Copenhagen.
Kauffmann was nicknamed "the King of Greenland" for his independent political moves in the Greenland affair.
Kauffmann's treaty was adapted in the early 1950s and remains the legal basis for the U.S. Thule Air Base in Greenland.
Death
In June 1963, Kauffmann, suffering from prostate cancer, was killed by his wife in a "mercy killing". His wife, Charlotte, then took her own life.[6][7]
In popular culture
The film The Good Traitor (Vores mand i Amerika) released in 2020, covers the signing of the agreement over Greenland between Henrik Kauffmann and the United States. Kauffmann is played by Ulrich Thomsen.
^Henrik Kauffmann (April 13, 1941). "FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC PAPERS, 1941, EUROPE, VOLUME II, The Danish Minister (Kauffmann) to the Secretary of State". Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. Retrieved August 26, 2016. Under the circumstances, there was, to me, no doubt but that I must, in the interests of Denmark and Greenland, take this unusual step. The Government in Denmark will not, as long as Denmark is occupied, be able to obtain full information as to the background and necessity for this action. I, therefore, request that judgment of my decision be withheld until Denmark again is free, and the Danish Government and public can come to know the situation that made the step necessary. I earnestly beg His Majesty the King and the Danish Government to be assured that I have acted in the way which I felt to be right, after careful consideration and according to my best belief and the dictates of my conscience, fulfilling my allegiance to His Majesty the King.
^Meg Hixon (February 2014). "Sears and MacDougall family collection : Biography". Manuscripts Division, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan. University of Michigan. Retrieved August 26, 2016. Charlotte MacDougall Kauffmann killed her husband, then suffering from prostate cancer, and herself in Copenhagen in June 1963.
^"Wife Cuts Danish Hero's Throat, Then Kills Self". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. 1963-06-05. Retrieved 2016-08-26. Police reported today the American wife of Denmark's former ambassador to the United States, Henrik Kauffman, slit her husband's throat and then took her own life with the same bread knife. They described the murder as a "mercy killing."
Lidegaard, Bo (2003). Defiant Diplomacy: Henrik Kauffmann, Denmark, and the United States in World War II and the Cold War, 1939-1958. Translated by Glyn Jones, W. Peter Lang. ISBN9780820468198.
Lidegaard, Bo (2013). I Kongens Navn - Henrik Kauffmann i dansk diplomati 1919-58 (in Danish). Lindhardt og Ringhof. ISBN9788711385289.
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