Brian Hitch (2 June 1932 – 3 August 2004) was a British diplomat, academic and musician who was High Commissioner to Malta between 1988 and 1991.Thwaite, Anthony,
Brian Hitch obituary
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 23 August 2004. Born in

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland Port of Wisbech, port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bord ...

, where his father was a cobbler, he attended

Wisbech Grammar School Wisbech Grammar School is an 11–18 mixed, Church of England, independent day school and sixth form in Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. Founded by the Guild of the Holy Trinity in 1379, it is one of the oldest schools in the co ...

, where he attained the Holmes Scholarship to

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

. After national service in the RAF, he joined the Foreign Office in 1955 and held positions in Japan, Cuba (during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

), Greece, Tokyo (as

Head of Chancery A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

), as Counsellor in Bonn and in Algiers, Consul-General in Munich, Minister in Tokyo and finally, from 1988–91, as High Commissioner to Malta. Following his retirement, he directed the Diploma in European Studies at the University of Oxford and was later made a fellow at

Kellogg College Kellogg College is a graduate-only constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1990 as Rewley House, Kellogg is the university's 36th college and the largest by number of students. It hosts research centres including ...

, Oxford. Hitch died in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitch, Brian 1932 births 2004 deaths Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Fellows of Kellogg College, Oxford People educated at Wisbech Grammar School High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Malta