John David Casson CMG (born 4 June 1971) is a British diplomat, who served as the British Ambassador to Egypt from August 2014 to August 2018.

Early life

John David Casson was born in Birmingham, United Kingdom on 4 June 1971. Casson was born to Reverend David and Helen Casson. Casson was educated at

Ashcroft High School Queen Elizabeth School (formerly Ashcroft High School) is a coeducational secondary school located in the Crawley Green area of Luton in the English county of Bedfordshire. History At the time of a 2016 Ofsted report, about 15% of the students ...

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

and

Tiffin School Tiffin School is a boys' grammar school in Kingston upon Thames, England. It has specialist status in both the performing arts and languages. The school moved from voluntary aided status to become an Academy School on 1 July 2011. Founded in 1 ...

, a boys'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. After Tiffin, Casson attended

Richmond upon Thames College Richmond upon Thames College is a large college of further and higher education located on a single site in Twickenham. It provides education and training to 16- to 18-year-olds and adults from across the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames an ...

Career

Ambassador to Egypt

Casson was appointed the British Ambassador to Egypt in August 2014 until August 2018. In May 2015, Casson faced criticism on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

after making a joke referencing a recent Egyptian political controversy. Casson has been the leader of the disability charity L’Arche in the United Kingdom since January 2021.

Personal life

Casson married his wife, Kathryn Rachel Clarke, in 2000. Casson speaks fluent

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

. Casson identifies as a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. He was appointed

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) in the

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...

list.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Casson, John Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Egypt 21st-century British diplomats 1971 births Living people Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George