Sir Arthur Willert, KBE (19 May 1882 – 11 March 1973) was a British journalist and public servant. The son of

Paul Ferdinand Willert Paul Ferdinand Willert (29 May 1844 – 1912) was an English author of several books and an Honorary Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. Life and career After education at Eton, Willert matriculated at Balliol College, Oxford, on 20 October 1862. Wi ...

, Arthur Willert was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

. Joining the staff of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' in 1906, Willert was ''The Times'''s chief United States correspondent from 1910 to 1920, with an interruption from 1917 to 1918, when he was Secretary of the British War Mission in Washington and the representative of the Ministry of Information. He formed an extensive network of influential American contacts, which enabled him to supply the British government with valuable information concerning American politics during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and to convey British views to American officials. Willert was appointed a KBE in 1919 "For valuable services rendered in connection with the War". He became head of the News Department and Press Officer at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

from 1921, and was a member of the United Kingdom's delegation to the

Washington Naval Conference The Washington Naval Conference was a disarmament conference called by the United States and held in Washington, DC from November 12, 1921 to February 6, 1922. It was conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations. It was attended by nine ...

, the

London Economic Conference The London Economic Conference was a meeting of representatives of 66 nations from June 12 to July 27, 1933 at the Geological Museum in London. Its purpose was to win agreement on measures to fight the Great Depression, revive international trade, ...

, the London Naval Conference, the

Geneva Disarmament Conference The Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments, generally known as the Geneva Conference or World Disarmament Conference, was an international conference of states held in Geneva, Switzerland, between February 1932 and November 1934 ...

, and to meetings of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

between 1929 and 1934. He resigned from the Foreign Office in 1935 to devote his time to writing and lecturing on British foreign policy. On the outbreak of the Second World War, he became the head of the Ministry of Information Office for the Southern Region, serving until 1945.

References

* https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-160993 * https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/12/resources/4065 {{DEFAULTSORT:Willert, Arthur 1882 births 1973 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British journalists The Times journalists British civil servants People educated at Eton College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford British foreign correspondents British male journalists Civil servants in the Ministry of Information (United Kingdom) Civil servants in the Foreign Office 20th-century British civil servants