John Birch (diplomat)
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Sir John Allan Birch (24 May 1935 – 6 May 2020) was a
British diplomat His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Home Civil Service, which ...
who was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
in 1993. He was educated at
Leighton Park School Leighton Park School is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading, Berkshire, Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, havin ...
and
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 ...
. Sir John was Ambassador to
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
until his retirement in 1995.


Diplomatic career

John Birch 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 ...
in 1959 and was posted as
Third Secretary Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seatings ...
to
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 ...
in 1960. Subsequently, he went as
Second Secretary Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seatings ...
to
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
in 1963; to
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
in 1965 as
First Secretary First Secretary may refer to: * First minister, a leader of a government * Secretary (title), a leader of a political party (especially Communist parties), trade union, or other organization * First Secretary (diplomatic rank), a role within an emba ...
and to UKMIS
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
in 1968. He was
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 ...
in
Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
in 1973 before returning to London in 1977 as
Counsellor Counselor or counsellor may refer to: A professional In diplomacy and government * Counsellor of State, senior member of the British royal family to whom the Monarch can delegate some functions in case of unavailability * Counselor (dipl ...
at the
Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...
. Later that year, John Birch was appointed Political Adviser at UKDEL CTB Geneva and moved in 1980 to
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
as Counsellor/Head of Chancery. From 1983 to 1986, he served at the FCO as Head of Eastern European Department before being posted to UKMIS
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
as Deputy Permanent Representative (with the personal rank of
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 ...
). In 1989, Sir John Birch was appointed Ambassador to Hungary.


Post-retirement

Sir John Birch was Director of the British Association for Central and Eastern Europe from 1995 to 2004. He was Vice–Chairman of the Council of
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies and a member of the
Royal Institute of International Affairs Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
. He was a non–executive Director of the private security firm
AEGIS The aegis ( ; grc, αἰγίς ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a d ...
, having previously served on the AEGIS Advisory Council. He died from cancer on 6 May 2020 at the age of 84.Birch - Sir John. KCVO. CMG
/ref>


Family

John Birch married Primula Clare Haselden in 1960. They had three sons (1962, 1963 and 1969) and one daughter (1967).


Further reading

*Interview of Sir John Birch by Virginia Crowe, 2004, ''British Diplomatic Oral History Programme'' (BDOHP), transcrip


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birch, John Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Hungary 1935 births 2020 deaths Members of HM Diplomatic Service Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George People educated at Leighton Park School 20th-century British diplomats