James William Crawford Cumes (23 August 1922 – 21 November 2013) was an Australian author and economist and a former public servant and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

Life and career

Cumes was born in

Rosewood, Queensland Rosewood is a rural town and locality in the City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Rosewood had a population of 3,263 people. Rosewood is in the Bremer Valley. Geography The town of Rosewood is located south-west o ...

in August 1922. He was educated at

Wooloowin State School Wooloowin State School is a heritage-listed public co–educational primary school at 663 Lutwyche Road, Wooloowin, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1914 to 1934. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on ...

and

Brisbane Grammar School , motto_translation = Nothing Without Labour , established = 1868 , type = Independent, day & boarding , gender = Boys , denomination = Non-denominational , slogan = , key_people = , ci ...

, before matriculating to the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

. During World War II, Cumes was in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

, and fought on the

Kokoda Track The Kokoda Track or Trail is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs overland – in a straight line – through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The track was the location of the 1942 World War II battle between Japanese ...

. Over the course of his diplomatic career, Cumes was High Commissioner to Nigeria (1965–1967), Ambassador to Belgium (1975–1977), Ambassador to Austria and Hungary (1977–1980), and Ambassador to the Netherlands (1980–1984). In his 1988 book ''A Bunch of Amateurs'', Cumes critiqued the performance of Australia's foreign ministers, offering an unfavourable assessment of then Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

Bill Hayden William George Hayden (born 23 January 1933) is an Australian politician who served as the 21st governor-general of Australia from 1989 to 1996. He was Leader of the Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1977 to 1983, and served as ...

. In a review of Cumes' 1990 book ''How to Become a Millionaire Without Really Working'' that appeared in ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', Peter Bowler praised Cumes for his sunny, cheerful, sensible and interesting take on money-making. Cumes's wife was Austrian. He moved between houses in Australia, Austria, Monaco and the South of France. He died in Vienna, Austria in November 2013 at the age of 91.Ancestry: James Wiliam Crawford Cumes Crawford grave record
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Works

Non-fiction

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Fiction

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumes, James 1922 births 2013 deaths Alumni of the London School of Economics Ambassadors of Australia to Austria Ambassadors of Australia to Belgium Ambassadors of Australia to Czechoslovakia Ambassadors of Australia to Hungary Ambassadors of Australia to the Netherlands High Commissioners of Australia to Nigeria University of Queensland alumni Australian Army personnel of World War II People educated at Brisbane Grammar School