Peter Campbell John Curtis (8 September 19295 May 2013) was an Australian public servant and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. Curtis was born on 8 September 1929. He grew up in Sydney, attending Riverview College and later the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, before going on to study at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in the United Kingdom. In 1957, Curtis 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 ...

. Curtis' first ambassadorial posting was to Laos in 1969. Returning to Canberra in 1972, Curtis was appointed assistant secretary of the Personnel Branch of the Department of Foreign Affairs (the external affairs department's name had been changed in 1970). In the role he led a property acquisition trip to Hanoi in advance of establishing a mission in Vietnam. He was appointed Ambassador to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Jordan in 1975. The posting was based in Beirut. From 1976 to 1979, Curtis was Australian High Commissioner to India and Nepal. In 1982, Curtis was appointed Australian Ambassador to France.

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