Sir Patrick Fairweather (born 17 June 1936) is a British retired diplomat. He served as Ambassador to Angola from 1985 to 1987 and Ambassador to Italy and concurrently Albania from 1992 to 1996. He was director of the Butrint Foundation which was concerned with the archaeology and conservation of the classical site of Butrint in southern Albania from 1997 until 2004.

Background

Fairweather, the son of John George Fairweather and Dorothy Jane (née Boanas), was educated at

Ottershaw School Ottershaw School was founded in 1948 as an English school for boys in Ottershaw Park, Ottershaw, approximately southwest of London between Chertsey and Woking, Surrey, south of England, on an estate that dated back to 1761, when the first house ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, where he graduated with a degree in history. He married Maria (née Merica) in 1962 and the couple have two daughters. Maria died in 2010, having completed biographies of Princess Volkonsky (1999) and Madame de Staël (2005).

Career

After National Service ( 1955–57 ) in the Royal Marines and Parachute Regiment and a brief spell in advertising, Fairweather entered Diplomatic Service in 1965. He served as 2nd Secretary in

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 ...

from 1966 to 1969 and 1st Secretary ( Economic) in Paris from 1970 to 1973. In 1975, Fairweather was posted to Vientiane ( Laos ) as 1st Secretary and Head of Chancery . In late 1976 after the Communist takeover of Laos and the subsequent downgrading of the embassy , he was appointed 1st secretary in the trade section of the UK Representation to the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

(EEC) 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 August 1978 he moved to

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

as Economic and Commercial Counsellor. In January 1983 Fairweather returned to London as Head of European Community Department (Internal) of the FCO. In October 1985 Fairweather took over as Ambassador to Angola ( and concurrently Sao Tome ) . His colleague Robin Renwick later wrote that during his two-year term in Angola he "served as the indispensable channel of communications for the Americans". In late 1987, he became Assistant Under-Secretary of State of the FCO for Africa and was promoted Deputy Under-Secretary for the Middle East and Africa in September 1990. In June 1992 he was appointed Ambassador to Italy ( and concurrently Albania). He left Rome on retirement in June 1996. After leaving the Diplomatic Service, Fairweather was appointed Senior Adviser at the investment banking arm of Schroders Bank ( merged with Citibank in 2000 ). He also served as the first director of the

Butrint Foundation Butrint Foundation is an international organization founded in 1993 in the UK by Lord Rothschild and Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover. The foundation aims to conserve, preserve, and develop the Butrint site in southern Albania. Professor Richard ...

, which concerned itself with the archaeology and conservation of the archaeological site of Butrint in southern Albania from 1997 until 2004.

References

External links

Transcript of interview with Sir Patrick Fairweather
British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairweather, Patrick Stanislaus Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Albania 1936 births Living people Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Angola Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George