John Gunther Dean
Dean speaks four languages: English, French, German and Danish. He was the first U.S. Ambassador to Denmark who learned and spoke Danish, thus gaining significant respect from its people. He is married to the French-born Martine Duphenieux, and they have three grown children. He now lives in Switzerland and France but remains active on foreign affairs issues and comes to the U.S. often.
Norwegian language conflict
In the United Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway (1536–1814), the official language was Danish. The urban Norwegian upper class spoke ""dansk-norsk"", Dano-Norwegian, a form of Danish with Norwegian pronunciation and other minor local differences while the majority of the population spoke their local and regional dialects. After the two countries separated in 1814, Dano-Norwegian remained the sole official language until 1885.