Sir (Albert) James Macqueen Craig (13 July 1924 – 26 September 2017) was a British diplomat who was ambassador to

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, also an academic and writer.

Career

Craig was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and educated at

Liverpool Institute High School for Boys The Liverpool Institute High School for Boys was an all-boys grammar school in the English port city of Liverpool. The school had its origins in 1825 but occupied different premises while the money was found to build a dedicated building on ...

. He then won an

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its pred ...

. He gained first class in Classics

Honour Moderations Honour Moderations (or ''Mods'') are a set of examinations at the University of Oxford at the end of the first part of some degree courses (e.g., Greats or '' Literae Humaniores''). Honour Moderations candidates have a class awarded (hence the ' ...

after his first year, then served in the army 1943–44 but left due to illness and returned to Oxford where he gained a first class degree in Arabic and Persian. He lectured in Arabic at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

1948–55, taking a year off to study at

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

1950–51. In 1955 he took leave from Durham to be senior lecturer at the

Middle East Centre for Arab Studies The Middle East Centre for Arab Studies (MECAS) was an Arabic language college created by the British Army during World War II in Jerusalem, and relocated afterwards as a civilian institution to Lebanon near Beirut where it functioned between 1947� ...

. He joined 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 ...

and was Political Agent in the

Trucial States The Trucial States ( '), also known as the Trucial Coast ( '), the Trucial Sheikhdoms ( '), Trucial Arabia or Trucial Oman, was the name the British government gave to a group of tribal confederations in southeastern Arabia whose leaders had s ...

1961–64. He was posted to Beirut 1964–67 and to Jeddah 1967–70, then took a year's sabbatical fellowship at

St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economic ...

, 1970–71. His next post was head of the Near East and North Africa Department at 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 ...

1971–75. During this time, in November 1974 a British Airways aircraft was hijacked and flown to Tunis, where Craig was sent to deal with the crisis. The hijackers murdered a German banker but the remaining passengers and crew were released. Craig was deputy High Commissioner at Kuala Lumpur 1975–76, ambassador to Syria 1976–79 and ambassador to Saudi Arabia 1979–84 during which he had to rebuild relations with the Saudis were offended by the 1980 TV drama-documentary ''

Death of a Princess ''Death of a Princess'' is a British 1980 drama-documentary produced by ATV in cooperation with WGBH in the United States. The drama is based on the true story of Princess Mishaal, a young Saudi Arabian princess and her lover who had been pu ...

''. He then retired from the Diplomatic Service and was visiting professor in Arabic and lecturer at

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

, 1985–1991. Among other activities he was Director General of the Middle East Association 1985–93 and President 1993–2011. He also served as a director of

Christopher Mayhew Christopher Paget Mayhew, Baron Mayhew (12 June 1915 – 7 January 1997) was a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1974, when he left the Labour Party to join the Liberals. In 1981 ...

’s ''Middle East International''. Craig was appointed CMG in the

1975 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1975 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1975 to celeb ...

, knighted

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

in the 1981 New Year Honours and promoted to GCMG in the 1984 New Year Honours. After his retirement he was made an Officer of the Order of St John.

Publications

*''Shemlan: A History of the Middle East Centre for Arab Studies'', Macmillan, 1998
CRAIG, Sir (Albert) James (Macqueen)
''Who's Who 2017'', A & C Black, 2017 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2016)
Craig, Sir Albert James Macqueen, b 1924, Knight, diplomat
British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, James Macqueen 1924 births 2017 deaths People educated at Liverpool Institute High School for Boys Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II Academics of Durham University Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Syria Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia Academics of the University of Oxford Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Officers of the Order of St John British expatriates in Egypt British expatriates in the Trucial States British expatriates in Lebanon