Sir Leonard Appleyard KCMG is a former British

British people

The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

 diplomat. He has a degree (with Honours) in Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese...

 from Queens' College, Cambridge

Queens' College, Cambridge

Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...

 and speaks Chinese, Russian, Hungarian and French. He served as the British Ambassador to the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 between 1966 and 1968 (during the country's Cultural Revolution

Cultural Revolution

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...

). He served as First Secretary British High Commission in 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 1971-1974, and later returned to China as ambassador in 1994 until 1997, a period which witnessed the Taiwan Strait Crisis

Third Taiwan Strait Crisis

The Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, also called the 1995–1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis or the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was the effect of a series of missile tests conducted by the People's Republic of China in the waters surrounding Taiwan including the Taiwan Strait from July 21, 1995 to March 23, 1996...

 (1995-6) and also the 'handover' of Hong Kong from UK rule to the People's Republic of China.

Sir Leonard also served as the UK's ambassador to Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

; served in the Treasury; in the Cabinet Office as Deputy Cabinet Secretary; as Secretary of the Gulf War Cabinet; and Financial Counsellor in Paris.

Following his departure from the diplomatic service, Sir Leonard took up a position as vice-chairman of Barclays Capital

Barclays Capital

Barclays Capital is a global British investment bank. It is the investment banking division of Barclays plc which has a balance sheet of over £1.2 trillion . Barclays Capital provides financing and risk management services to large companies, institutions and government clients. It is a primary...

.

Sir Leonard also served as joint-Chairman on the Nuffield Languages Programme Steering Group along with Sir Trevor McDonald.

He is currently Pro-Chancellor of Bournemouth University

Bournemouth University

Bournemouth University is a university in and around the large south coast town of Bournemouth, UK...

.

A Senior Fellow at the Centre for Contemporary China, Southampton University.

Sources

• http://www.thersa.org/events/speakers-archive/a/sir-leonard-appleyard-kcmg; accessed 2nd April 2010
• http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/about/people_at_bu/key_people/pro_chancellors.html; accessed 2nd April 2010
• http://languages.nuffieldfoundation.org/languages/programme/steering.asp; accessed 2nd April 2010
• http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Leonard_Appleyard; accessed 2nd April 2010