John Kittmer (born 6 July 1967) is a British former diplomat. He was formerly the

Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory The Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory is the head of government in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The Commissioner is appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the Foreig ...

jointly with the

British Antarctic Territory The British Antarctic Territory (BAT) is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories, of which it is by far the largest by area. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between ...

Education

Kittmer was born in Sussex in 1967. From the years 1978–1985, he was educated at Hymers College, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

day school in Hull in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

, where he was taught

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

by Larry Trewartha and Gerald Thompson. Kittmer then attended Christ's College at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

, where he obtained a BA in Classics (1988), King's College London where he obtained an MA in Greek Studies (2007), and

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

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 ...

, at which he also studied Classics.

Life and career

Kittmer joined the civil service in 1993, first at the

Department for Education and Employment The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) was a United Kingdom government department between 2001 and 2007, responsible for the education system (including higher education and adult learning) as well as children's services in England. Th ...

before moving to the UK's Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels in 1998 as a First Secretary. He returned to London for posts in the FCO in 2002, DEFRA from 2004, the Cabinet Office in 2006–7, and back to DEFRA until 2012. Kittmer served as the British Ambassador to Greece from January 2013 until December 2016. He was succeeded in this role by Kate Smith in January 2017. Kittmer was appointed to replace Peter Hayes as the Commissioner for the British Overseas Territories of the British Indian Ocean Territory and the

starting in December 2016. In June 2017, he left this post on a career break to continue his academic studies. In June 2019, he left the civil service permanently. Kittmer currently sits on the board of directors of the Greek oil tanker company Okeanis.

Personal life and honours

Kittmer self-identifies as a 'northerner'. Kittmer entered into a

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

with David Bates in 2007. He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix in April 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kittmer, John 1967 births Living people Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Alumni of King's College London Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Greece Commissioners of the British Antarctic Territory Commissioners of the British Indian Ocean Territory British LGBT civil servants LGBT diplomats English LGBT people People educated at Hymers College