Sir Archibald Duncan Wilson (12 August 1911 – 20 September 1983) was a British diplomat and Master of

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

Career

Wilson was born on 12 August 1911 in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

to Archibald Edward Wilson, German teacher at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

, and Ethel Wilson, daughter of banker and financier

Felix Schuster Sir Felix Schuster, 1st Baronet (21 April 1854 — 13 May 1936) was a British banker, financier and Liberal politician. Biography He was educated at Frankfurt-am-Main, Geneva, and Owens College, Manchester, and then went into business in Lond ...

. He was educated at

Sandroyd School Sandroyd School is an independent co-educational preparatory school for day and boarding pupils aged 2 to 13 in the south of Wiltshire, England. The school's main building is Rushmore House, a 19th-century country house which is surrounded by the ...

then

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 ...

, where he studied

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

. After his studies in Oxford he applied for the

Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to ...

but due to a back ailment was not successful. He then spent a year teaching in

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and then joined the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

as assistant keeper in 1937. During the war the opportunity arose to join the Foreign Office; after the war, he served in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

for the

Allied Control Commission Following the termination of hostilities in World War II, the Allies were in control of the defeated Axis countries. Anticipating the defeat of Germany and Japan, they had already set up the European Advisory Commission and a proposed Far Easter ...

for Germany. He then specialized in

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

affairs and held the following positions: *

Charge d'affaires Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

1957–59 * Ambassador to Yugoslavia 1964–1968 * Ambassador to the USSR 1968–1971 He retired from the diplomatic service in 1971 and was appointed Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. While at

Corpus Corpus is Latin for "body". It may refer to: Linguistics * Text corpus, in linguistics, a large and structured set of texts * Speech corpus, in linguistics, a large set of speech audio files * Corpus linguistics, a branch of linguistics Music * ...

he was also Chairman of the Appeal Committee of

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and was instrumental in the procurement of a new building to house the Faculty of Music. He retired from the Mastership in 1980 and was succeeded by

Michael McCrum Michael William McCrum CBE (23 May 1924 – 16 February 2005) was an English academic and ancient historian who served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and Head Master of Tonbridge ...

. He died on 20 September 1983, aged 72.

Publications

Wilson wrote several books including: *''Life and Times of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić'' (1970) *''Tito's Yugoslavia'' (1979) *''

Leonard Woolf Leonard Sidney Woolf (; – ) was a British political theorist, author, publisher, and civil servant. He was married to author Virginia Woolf. As a member of the Labour Party and the Fabian Society, Woolf was an avid publisher of his own work ...

: A political biography'', ed. Powell, (1978),

Family

Wilson's youngest sister was the philosopher

Mary Warnock Helen Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock, (née Wilson; 14 April 1924 – 20 March 2019) was an English philosopher of morality, education, and mind, and a writer on existentialism. She is best known for chairing an inquiry whose report formed the ...

. Another younger sister, Grizel, married his Balliol friend, the historian and civil servant Michael Balfour. Wilson married Elizabeth Fleming in 1937 and had three children, Elizabeth, Catherine (born 1940) and David (1941–1975). His daughter Elizabeth married

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

pianist

Radu Lupu Radu Lupu (30 November 1945 – 17 April 2022) was a Romanian pianist. He was widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists of his time. Born in Galați, Romania, Lupu began studying piano at the age of six. Two of his major piano teach ...

. He was a good friend of the composer

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

and the cellist

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was wel ...

Notes

References

WILSON, Sir (Archibald) Duncan
Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012
Sir Duncan Wilson
(obituary), ''The Times'', London, 22 September 1983 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Duncan 1911 births 1983 deaths Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Yugoslavia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Soviet Union Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Masters of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge People educated at Sandroyd School People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford