Frank Roberts (diplomat)
Encyclopedia
Sir Frank Kenyon Roberts, GCMG
, GCVO
(27 October 1907 – 7 January 1998) was a British
diplomat. He played a key role in British diplomacy in the early years of the Cold War
, and in developing Anglo
-German
relations in the 1960s.
Born in Buenos Aires
, Argentina
, he was educated at Bedales
, Rugby
and Trinity College, Cambridge
, where he graduated in 1930 with first-class honours in history. He entered the Foreign Office in 1930, having been first-placed in the entrance examination.
His first overseas posting was to Paris
, followed by Cairo
where he married Celeste Leila Beatrix "Cella" Shoucair (died 1990). Roberts returned to London in 1937 to work in the central department of the Foreign Office, where, as a still relatively junior official, he was involved in much of the diplomacy with Germany
in the lead-up to World War II
. When war broke out, he was British joint secretary of the Anglo French Supreme War Council
from 1939 to 1940, and acted as interpreter during the third meeting of the SWC which took place at 10 Downing Street on 17 November 1939.
He was based in London until January 1945, when he was posted to Moscow
, serving as an advisor to Churchill
at the Yalta conference
and as British minister to the Soviet Union
until 1947. With the United States
Deputy Chief of Mission
, George Kennan
, he developed the analysis of Soviet foreign policy which formed the basis of the British and American policy of containment. He returned to London in 1947 as private secretary to Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin
, where he was involved in the negotiations with the Russians and the Americans
over the Berlin airlift in 1947 and 1948. He was then Deputy High Commissioner
to India
from 1949 to 1951) and Deputy-Under Secretary of State
at the Foreign Office from 1951 to 1954. In the latter year, he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Yugoslavia, a post he held until 1957, when he became British Permanent Representative on the North Atlantic Council
to 1960. He was Ambassador to the USSR from 1960 to 1962, and Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany
) from 1963 to 1968. He was awarded a CMG
in 1946, a KCMG in 1956, advanced to GCMG in 1963, and made GCVO in 1965.
Roberts was a hard-working and skilful negotiator, well-informed, and skilled in finding a way through difficulties. He won the confidence of the many ministers he served, including Churchill
, Bevin
, Eden
, Macmillan
, Butler
, Heath
, Wilson
, Stewart
, and Brown
. He also developed a good relationship with the foreign leaders he dealt with, including Stalin, Tito
, Adenauer
, Brandt
, and Schmidt
. However, his role in the development of a close relationship between Britain and Germany did not lead to stronger German support for British membership of the EEC
.
He and his wife had no children. He maintained good health in his lengthy retirement, serving on the member of the Duncan committee on overseas representation in 1969, president of the British Atlantic Committee and of the European Atlantic Group, on the council of Chatham House
. His main interest remained with Germany: he was president the German chamber of commerce and industry in the UK, chairman of the steering committee of the Königswinter
conference, Member of the Board of Governors of the European Institute for the Media and a founder member of the young Königswinter conference. He also accepted non-executive directorships of German and British companies, including Mercedes Benz and Unilever
(for whom his father had worked in Buenos Aires).
After his wife's death in 1990, he published in 1991 his memoirs, Dealing with Dictators, which she had helped him to write. In the 1990s, he became known as television commentator on the history of the 1940s and 1950s. He died in Kensington
, London
on 7 January 1998.
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, GCVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
(27 October 1907 – 7 January 1998) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
diplomat. He played a key role in British diplomacy in the early years of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, and in developing Anglo
Anglo
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, Australia and...
-German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
relations in the 1960s.
Born in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, he was educated at Bedales
Bedales School
Bedales School is a co-educational independent school situated in Hampshire, in the south east of England. Founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventional Victorian schools, today the school is one of the most expensive in the UK, charging £9,985 per term for a...
, Rugby
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, where he graduated in 1930 with first-class honours in history. He entered the Foreign Office in 1930, having been first-placed in the entrance examination.
His first overseas posting was to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, followed by Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
where he married Celeste Leila Beatrix "Cella" Shoucair (died 1990). Roberts returned to London in 1937 to work in the central department of the Foreign Office, where, as a still relatively junior official, he was involved in much of the diplomacy with Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in the lead-up to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. When war broke out, he was British joint secretary of the Anglo French Supreme War Council
Anglo French Supreme War Council
The Anglo-French Supreme War Council, sometimes known as the Supreme War Council , was established to oversee joint military strategy at the start of the Second World War. Most of its deliberations took place during the period of the Phoney War, with its first meeting at Abbeville on 12 September...
from 1939 to 1940, and acted as interpreter during the third meeting of the SWC which took place at 10 Downing Street on 17 November 1939.
He was based in London until January 1945, when he was posted to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, serving as an advisor to Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
at the Yalta conference
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...
and as British minister to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
until 1947. With the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Deputy Chief of Mission
Deputy Chief of Mission
A Deputy Chief of Mission , is the number-two diplomat assigned to an embassy or other diplomatic mission. He or she is usually considered the second-in-command or top lieutenant to the Head of Mission...
, George Kennan
George F. Kennan
George Frost Kennan was an American adviser, diplomat, political scientist and historian, best known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War...
, he developed the analysis of Soviet foreign policy which formed the basis of the British and American policy of containment. He returned to London in 1947 as private secretary to Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin was a British trade union leader and Labour politician. He served as general secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1945, as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour Government.-Early...
, where he was involved in the negotiations with the Russians and the Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
over the Berlin airlift in 1947 and 1948. He was then Deputy High Commissioner
High Commissioner
High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...
to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
from 1949 to 1951) and Deputy-Under Secretary of State
Under Secretary of State
The Under Secretary of State, from 1919 to 1972, was the second-ranking official at the United States Department of State , serving as the Secretary's principal deputy, chief assistant, and Acting Secretary in the event of the Secretary's absence...
at the Foreign Office from 1951 to 1954. In the latter year, he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Yugoslavia, a post he held until 1957, when he became British Permanent Representative on the North Atlantic Council
North Atlantic Council
North Atlantic Council is the most senior political governing body of NATO established by Article 9 of the North Atlantic Treaty. The NAC can be held at the Permanent Representative Level , or can be composed of member states' Ministers of State, Defense, or Heads of Government. The NAC has the...
to 1960. He was Ambassador to the USSR from 1960 to 1962, and Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
) from 1963 to 1968. He was awarded a CMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
in 1946, a KCMG in 1956, advanced to GCMG in 1963, and made GCVO in 1965.
Roberts was a hard-working and skilful negotiator, well-informed, and skilled in finding a way through difficulties. He won the confidence of the many ministers he served, including Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, Bevin
Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin was a British trade union leader and Labour politician. He served as general secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1945, as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour Government.-Early...
, Eden
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...
, Macmillan
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
, Butler
Rab Butler
Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, KG CH DL PC , who invariably signed his name R. A. Butler and was familiarly known as Rab, was a British Conservative politician...
, Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
, Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
, Stewart
Michael Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham
Robert Michael Maitland Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham, CH, PC was a British Labour politician and Fabian Socialist who served twice as Foreign Secretary in the first cabinet of Harold Wilson.- Early life :...
, and Brown
George Brown, Baron George-Brown
George Alfred Brown, Baron George-Brown, PC was a British Labour politician, who served as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1960 to 1970, and served in a number of positions in the Cabinet, most notably as Foreign Secretary, in the Labour Government of the 1960s...
. He also developed a good relationship with the foreign leaders he dealt with, including Stalin, Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
, Adenauer
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman. He was the chancellor of the West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is widely recognised as a person who led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that had forged close relations with old enemies France,...
, Brandt
Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm , was a German politician, Mayor of West Berlin 1957–1966, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1964–1987....
, and Schmidt
Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt is a German Social Democratic politician who served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Prior to becoming chancellor, he had served as Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance. He had also served briefly as Minister of Economics and as acting...
. However, his role in the development of a close relationship between Britain and Germany did not lead to stronger German support for British membership of the EEC
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
.
He and his wife had no children. He maintained good health in his lengthy retirement, serving on the member of the Duncan committee on overseas representation in 1969, president of the British Atlantic Committee and of the European Atlantic Group, on the council of Chatham House
Chatham House
Chatham House, formally known as The Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in London whose mission is to analyse and promote the understanding of major international issues and current affairs. It is regarded as one of the world's leading...
. His main interest remained with Germany: he was president the German chamber of commerce and industry in the UK, chairman of the steering committee of the Königswinter
Königswinter
Königswinter is a town and summer resort in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, opposite to Bonn, at the foot of the Siebengebirge.- Main sights :...
conference, Member of the Board of Governors of the European Institute for the Media and a founder member of the young Königswinter conference. He also accepted non-executive directorships of German and British companies, including Mercedes Benz and Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
(for whom his father had worked in Buenos Aires).
After his wife's death in 1990, he published in 1991 his memoirs, Dealing with Dictators, which she had helped him to write. In the 1990s, he became known as television commentator on the history of the 1940s and 1950s. He died in Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 7 January 1998.
External links
- The Papers of Sir Frank Roberts at the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge