Sir Martin Le Quesne

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

(10 June 1917 – 3 April 2004) was a British diplomat, ambassador to

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

and high commissioner to Nigeria.

Biography

Charles Martin Le Quesne, son of Charles Thomas Le Quesne, was educated at Shrewsbury School and

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

. He served in the Royal Artillery 1940–45 and joined the

Foreign Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

in 1946. He served at

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and in the Foreign Office (later the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, FCO), before being appointed chargé d'affaires in

when that country gained independence from France in 1960; subsequently he was Ambassador there 1961–64. After another post in the Foreign Office 1964–68, he was Ambassador to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

1968–71. He was deputy Under-Secretary at the FCO 1971–74, with responsibility for Africa and the Middle East. :He became the senior official adviser on Rhodesia – a problem then poisoning Britain's relations with the black African states. He devoted his formidable intellectual energy to finding an honourable solution, but to no avail. The fruit was not yet ripe and it was only in 1979, after Le Quesne's retirement, that Lord Carrington brought off with great skill and courage the hitherto elusive settlement.
— ''The Telegraph'', 10 April 2004 Le Quesne was High Commissioner to

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

1974–76. His time in Nigeria was brought to an unlucky end by an attempted military coup by Lt. Col. Buka Suka Dimka, who ambushed and assassinated the president, Murtala Mohammed on 13 February 1976. Dimka then visited Le Quesne and asked him to relay a message to General Gowon in London. Le Quesne refused, but the visit had compromised his position and he was expelled by Mohammed's successor,

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its presid ...

. Le Quesne was then within a year of his statutory retirement age, so he retired to Jersey and was a member of the States of Jersey 1978–90. Le Quesne was appointed CMG in the

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

of 1963 and knighted KCMG in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1974.Supplement to the London Gazette, 15 June 1974
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References

LE QUESNE, Sir (Charles) Martin
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012

(obituary), ''The Telegraph'', London, 10 April 2004
Sir Martin Le Quesne
(obituary), ''The Times'', London, 28 April 2004, page 27

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Quesne, Martin 1917 births 2004 deaths People educated at Shrewsbury School Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II Royal Artillery officers Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Mali Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Algeria High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Nigeria Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George