Sir Michael Edmund Pike (4 October 1931 – 1 August 2022) was a British diplomat.

Life and career

Pike was born on 4 October 1931. After attending the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

and

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

, Pike worked for ''

The Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' and then '' The Surrey Comet'' before joining HM Foreign Service in 1956 as a Third Secretary."Pike, Sir Michael (Edmund)"
''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'' (online ed.,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, December 2018). Retrieved 1 July 2019. Promotion followed to Second Secretary in 1960 and in 1968 he was appointed First Secretary at the British Embassy in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

; after three years back at the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

, he was posted as First Secretary to the British Embassy in Washington, DC, in 1973 and then served there as Counsellor from 1975 to 1978. He then spent four years in Israel before serving as the British Ambassador to Vietnam from 1982 to 1985. He was then the United Kingdom's Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO from 1985 to 1987 before serving as the British High Commissioner to Singapore from 1987 to 1990. He left the service that year and subsequently held advisory roles and directorships in the private sector. He was Chairman of the Editorial Board of the ''Asian Affairs Journal'' until 2014. Pike was appointed a 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. ...

in the

1984 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1984 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, and was also appointed a 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, o ...

in November 1989. Pike died on 1 August 2022, at the age of 90.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pike, Michael 1931 births 2022 deaths British diplomats Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Vietnam High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Singapore Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George