Sir Reginald "Rex" Wilding Allen Leeper (25 March 1888 – 2 February 1968) was a British civil servant and diplomat. He was the founder of the
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
.
Born in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, Leeper was educated at
Melbourne Grammar School
(Pray and Work)
, established = 1849 (on present site since 1858 - the celebrated date of foundation)
, type = Independent, co-educational primary, single-sex boys secondary, day and boarding
, denominatio ...
, Melbourne's
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
, and
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 ...
.
Leeper was the son of Dr
Alexander Leeper, the first Warden of Trinity College, the University of Melbourne, and his wife Adeline (née Allen). His half-sister
Valentine Leeper (1900–2001), maintained a lifelong correspondence with him.
Leeper began his government career in 1915, when he joined the News Department of the Foreign Office. Following admin changes in 1916 he was transferred to Intelligence Bureau, which in 1918 became the
Political Intelligence Department. He contributed to the weekly review ''
The New Europe ''The New Europe'', subtitled "A Weekly Review of Foreign Politics," was a weekly political magazine published in the United Kingdom between 1916 and 1920.
Funded by David Davies, it spread ideas related to federalism, such as the emancipation of ...
'' under the pseudonym Rurik. In 1920 he moved to the Northern Department of the FO. In 1923 Leeper was transferred to Diplomatic Service and moved to Warsaw as secretary of the legation.
[Lucien Wolf congratulated Leeper, a man he knew and considered well-informed, on his being appointed to Poland, what might be "beginning of a very successful career in the Diplomatic Service. Warsaw is likely to be a point of special interest in the new European complex". The chairman of the Joint Committee also offered his help if needed, BDBJ oard of Deputies of British Jews file C11/5/12.] He served in Poland until the early 1930s, though exact date of his return to the UK is not clear.
He then served as the chief of the news department of the Foreign Office, which via such organs as the British Council, the British Library of Information, the Travel Association and the foreign language broadcasts of the BBC sought to influence public opinion abroad. Leeper was appointed assistant undersecretary of state with a special brief for propaganda in early 1938. Much of his time was taken up with preparations for the British exhibition for the 1939 World's Fair in New York. A major problem with propaganda in the United States in 1938 was the work of the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUAC) headed by a xenophobic congressman from Texas,
Martin Dies, which in 1938 started an investigation into allegations of British propaganda. In June 1938, Lord Lloyd of the British Council suggested sending British professors to American universities with the aim of influencing American undergraduates, a plan supported by Leeper and Sir Robert Vansittart, the Special Adviser on Foreign Policy. The ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Lindsay, fearing the HCUAC, vetoed this plan, writing in a letter to Leeper on 10 July 1938 that the possibility of Dies discovering the plan was too much and asked Leeper "what they were at". In an attempt to circumvent Lindsay, Leeper called a meeting in London to discuss how to engage in propaganda in the United States. Besides Leeper, the meeting was attended by Lord Lothian, the secretary of the Rhodes Trust; Angus Fletcher of the British Library of Information; the Labour MP Josiah Wedgewood; and Frank Darvall of the English-Speaking Union. He became head of Britain's
Political Intelligence Department when it reformed in 1939.
Leeper was the British ambassador to the Greek government 1943–46 (
in exile in Cairo until October 1944). He played a critical role in Greek political developments of 1944, especially in support of the Greek monarchy in the person of King
George II of Greece
George II ( el, Γεώργιος Βʹ, ''Geórgios II''; 19 July Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S.:_7_July.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>O.S.:_7_July">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html"_;"title="nowiki/ ...
. After Greece's liberation, Leeper continued to be one of the major power brokers during his tenure, which included the early stages of the
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...
.
![Peron-NacionalizacionFA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Peron-NacionalizacionFA.jpg)
Leeper was then British ambassador to Argentina from 1946 to 1948. In February 1948 he and a UK trade mission led by
Clive Baillieu
Clive Latham Baillieu, 1st Baron Baillieu, KBE, CMG (24 September 1889 – 18 June 1967) was an Australian-British businessman, public servant, and rower.
Biography
Baillieu was born in Melbourne, the son of William Baillieu, an Australian poli ...
secured a new trade agreement with Argentina. It was signed on 7 February in the
Port of Buenos Aires
The Port of Buenos Aires ( es, Puerto de Buenos Aires) is the principal maritime port in Argentina. Operated by the ''Administración General de Puertos'' (General Ports Administration), a state enterprise, it is the leading transshipment point fo ...
at a reception aboard the
Royal Mail Lines
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. The line's motto was ''Per Mare Ubique'' (everywhere by sea). After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping group ...
flagship .
His brother, Alexander Wigram Allen Leeper, was also a distinguished British diplomat.
References
Books and articles
*
*
*
*
1888 births
1968 deaths
Alumni of New College, Oxford
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Argentina
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Greece
Foreign Office personnel of World War II
Greece in World War II
Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne)
{{UK-diplomat-stub