Merwyn "Merv" Norrish (28 October 1926 – 21 May 2021) was a New Zealand diplomat who served as New Zealand's ambassador to the European Community, acting high commissioner to London, ambassador to the United States, and secretary of

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

Early life

Born in Ashburton, Norrish was educated at Ashburton High School and

Christchurch Boys' High School , motto_translation = I Seek Higher Things , type = State school, Day and Boarding school , gender = Boys , song = The School We Magnify , colours = Blue and Black , established = , address = 71 Straven R ...

, before graduating from

Canterbury University College The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was f ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1948 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

with first-class honours in history in 1949.

Professional career

Norrish joined the

Department of External Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

as a recruit in 1949, as one of the fledgling intake in

Alister McIntosh Sir Alister Donald Miles McIntosh (29 November 1906 – 30 November 1978) was a New Zealand diplomat. McIntosh was New Zealand's first secretary of foreign affairs serving as the principal foreign policy adviser to Prime Ministers Peter Fraser, ...

’s new department. Norrish spent his early diplomatic career in Wellington and Paris, with a posting to Paris from 1955 to 1958. In 1961, Norrish was posted to

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 New Zealand's deputy permanent representative to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. Norrish was appointed New Zealand's ambassador to the European Community, in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, in 1967. In 1972, he became acting high commissioner to London, before returning to Wellington as deputy secretary of Foreign Affairs in 1973. During his time as deputy secretary, he was considered to be more closely aligned to the United States' foreign policy position than his secretary,

Frank Corner Frank Henry Corner (17 May 1920 – 27 August 2014) was a New Zealand diplomat. Corner served as New Zealand's Ambassador to the United Nations and the United States, before becoming New Zealand's third Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs (197 ...

. In 1978, Norrish became New Zealand's ambassador to the United States in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and Mexico. In 1980, Norrish was appointed New Zealand secretary of Foreign Affairs, a post he held until his retirement in 1989. During that period, Norrish was the key foreign policy official during New Zealand's withdrawal from ANZUS and the nuclear ship controversy. Norrish is understood to have warned Prime Minister

David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...

not to antagonise British Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

by participating in the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...

debate, and was responsible for implementing New Zealand's nuclear-free policy against his personal instincts. During his tenure, French secret agents bombed the Greenpeace ship ''Rainbow Warrior'' in 1985.

Later life and death

In retirement, Norrish served as chairman of

New Zealand On Air NZ On Air (NZOA; mi, Irirangi te Motu), formally the Broadcasting Commission, is an autonomous Crown entity and commission of the New Zealand Government responsible for funding support for broadcasting and creative works. The commission oper ...

, and the France-New Zealand Friendship Fund. He died on 21 May 2021.

Honours

In the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, Norrish was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

, for public services.

Personal life

In 1949 he married Francoise Honoré, a Frenchwoman whom he had met at university. For leisure, he enjoyed playing croquet and Scrabble.

Notes

References

*''An eye, an ear and a voice: 50 years in New Zealand’s external relations'' edited by

Malcolm Templeton Malcolm James Campbell Templeton (12 May 1924 – 11 September 2017) was a New Zealand public servant and diplomat. He held a number of senior positions, including permanent representative to the United Nations, and deputy secretary of foreign ...

(1993, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Wellington NZ) {{DEFAULTSORT:Norrish, Merv 1926 births 2021 deaths Ambassadors of New Zealand to the United States Ambassadors of New Zealand to Mexico Ambassadors of New Zealand to the European Union New Zealand public servants University of Canterbury alumni High Commissioners of New Zealand to the United Kingdom People from Ashburton, New Zealand Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit People educated at Ashburton College People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School