Sir Michael John Llewellyn-Smith (born 25 April 1939) is a retired British diplomat and academic. He served as Ambassador to Poland from 1991 to 1996 and Ambassador to Greece from 1996 to 1999. He is visiting professor at the Centre for Hellenic Studies,

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

Early life

Llewellyn-Smith was born in 1939. He was educated at Wellington College, a private school in Crowthorne,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. He attended

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, where he studied classics, ancient history and philosophy.

Diplomatic career

Llewellyn-Smith joined Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service in 1970. On 29 March 1980, he was appointed Consul-General at Athens.

Later life

Following retirement, Llewellyn-Smith has spent his time writing and lecturing about Greek history and culture. He is visiting professor at the Centre for Hellenic Studies,

. He is a regular speaker on

Swan Hellenic Swan Hellenic is a British cruise line specialising in expedition tours of historical or cultural interest aimed at the upper end of the cruise market. Swan Hellenic was first established as Swan's Tours in the 1950s as a tour operator carryin ...

cruises.

Honours

On 25 March 1996, Llewellyn-Smith was appointed

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(KCVO). He is an Honorary Fellow of St Antony's College, University of Oxford.

Writings

In 1965, he published ''The Great Island: A Study of Crete''. In 1973, he published the book ''Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor, 1919–1922'' on the Asia Minor Campaign. In 2004, he published ''Athens: A Cultural and Literary History''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Llewellyn-Smith, Michael 1939 births Living people Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Poland Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Greece Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Alumni of New College, Oxford British philhellenes British historians Historians of modern Greece