Haydon Warren-Gash (born 8 August 1949) is a retired British diplomat, and a noted lepidopterist who has described several new species.

Diplomatic career

Haydon Boyd Warren-Gash was educated at

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wife ...

. He joined the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

(FCO) in 1971 and after language training at

SOAS SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

served at

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

as well as at the FCO. He was deputy High Commissioner at

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

1991–1994; head of the Southern Europe department at the FCO 1994–1997;

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Côte d’Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesBurkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

and

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

1997–2001 (during which he had to deal with a crisis when four Britons were among a group taken hostage by Liberian rebels); Ambassador to Morocco and Mauritania 2002–2005; and Ambassador to Colombia 2005–2008.

Lepidopterology

Warren-Gash is a

lepidopterist Lepidopterology ()) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian. Origins Post-Renaissance, t ...

. While he was ambassador to Colombia he was accused of collecting rare butterflies without a licence, which he denied.British envoy caught up in butterfly row
''The Telegraph'', London, 14 December 2006 He has described the following species: *'' Cymothoe hartigi vanessae'' *''

Euphaedra cyparissa ''Euphaedra cyparissa'', the true forester, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

nimbina'' *'' Euphaedra sarcoptera ferrea'' *'' Euphaedra sarcoptera styx'' *'' Euriphene taigola'' *'' Iolaus alexanderi'' *'' Lepidochrysops labeensis'' *'' Liptena bia'' *'' Liptena seyboui'' Various species are named after Warren-Gash: *'' Baliochila warrengashi'' *'' Bebearia warrengashi'' *''

Euptera dorothea ''Euptera dorothea'', the western euptera, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. ...

warrengashi '' *'' Pseudaletis agrippina warrengashi''

Publications

*''New records of Lycaenidae from Kenya: a postscript'' (1993), i
''Metamorphosis''
(Official Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society of Africa) Volume 4, Issue 3: 113 *''The liptenids of the Banco Forest: a case study in conservation (1999), i
''Metamorphosis''
(Official Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society of Africa) Volume 10, Issue 2: 75-80 *''Collecting and conserving in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa'' (2002), i
''Metamorphosis''
(Official Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society of Africa) Volume 13, Issue 2: 44-50

References

WARREN-GASH, Haydon Boyd
''Who's Who 2014'', A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014
Haydon Warren-Gash - Career Highlights, Experience and Skills
Foro Consulting {{DEFAULTSORT:Warren-Gash, Haydon Boyd 1949 births Living people Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Ivory Coast Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Niger Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Burkina Faso Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Liberia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Morocco Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Mauritania Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Colombia British lepidopterists