Nominated by President Bush to serve as the first American Ambassador to Estonia, Mr. Frasure officially was sworn in on March 26, 1992. Ambassador Frasure initiated the reestablishment of the
American diplomatic presence in Estonia as Charge d'Affaires in September 1991, following Estonia's declaration of independence. After departing from Estonia in July 1994, he became Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs with particular responsibility for Bosnia, and U.S. representative to the contact group. He died in an automobile
accident near Sarajevo in August 1995 while on a mission to negotiate a U.S. proposal to end the conflict in Bosnia.
Mr. Frasure was born in Morgantown, West Virginia on April 20, 1942. His father served for many years on the faculty of West Virginia University and his mother taught in the public school
system. Educated at W.V.U., Mr. Frasure subsequently attended the London School of Economics and received a Ph.D. from Duke University. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Mr. Frasure taught briefly at Duke and the University of the South. During that period, he contributed scholarly articles to various professional journals including the American Political
Science Review.
Ambassador Frasure joined the Foreign Service in 1974 and his career focused on Europe and Africa. His overseas posts included Geneva, Bonn, Lagos, London, Pretoria and Addis Ababa. For his
contributions to the successful Southern Africa diplomacy which led to independence for Namibia and the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola, Mr. Frasure received two State Department
Superior Honor awards.
During 1990-91, Mr. Frasure served as the Africa Director at the National Security Council. In a June 1991 Rose Garden ceremony, President Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal for
Exceptional Service for his role in the downfall of the Mengistu regime in Ethiopia and the rescue of more than 15,000 Ethiopian Jews who were airlifted to Israel.
Mr. Frasure is survived by his wife Katharina Witting, originally from Bonn, Germany, and their two daughters, Sarah and Virginia.
Ambassador Frasure's Tree and Memorial Stone in Põltsamaa Friendship Park
From Tragedy to Destiny: Estonia's Place in the New Atlantic Order. The Robert C. Frasure Memorial Lecture by Senator John McCain 08/24/2001
A Baltic Home-Coming Robert C. Frasure Memorial Lecture by Strobe Talbott 01/24/2000
Ambassador Robert Frasure Memorial Lecture in Tallinn by Richard Holbrooke 04/01/1998
