Zohrab was born in Wellington of a part-Armenian family whose paternal ancestor was moved from Armenia to Persia by the Shah in around 1600 AD.
Members of the family became influential in Persia and were forced to escape political assassination at the end of the 18th century by fleeing to Turkey.
He graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a master's degree in History in 1937[3] and became an assistant librarian at Parliament's General Assembly Library.
He was the first Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva 1961–64, worked at Wellington headquarters, then was made High Commissioner to Malaysia 1967–69, then Ambassador to Germany 1969–74 accredited also to Austria, Switzerland and Poland.
[4] Zohrab, Balfour Douglas (1 January 1936), A History of the New Zealand Civil Service, 1840-1866 (Master of Arts), Open Access Repository Victoria University of Wellington, doi:10.26686/WGTN.16992460, Wikidata Q111991165