Sir Archibald Duncan Wilson (12 August 1911 – 20 September 1983) was a British diplomat and Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

Career

Wilson was born on 12 August 1911 in Winchester to Archibald Edward Wilson, German teacher at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

, and Ethel Wilson, daughter of banker and financier

Felix Schuster Sir Felix Schuster, 1st Baronet (21 April 1854 — 13 May 1936) was a British banker, financier and Liberal politician. Biography He was educated at Frankfurt-am-Main, Geneva, and Owens College, Manchester, and then went into business in Lond ...

. He was educated at

Sandroyd School Sandroyd School is an independent co-educational preparatory school for day and boarding pupils aged 2 to 13 in the south of Wiltshire, England. The school's main building is Rushmore House, a 19th-century country house which is surrounded by the ...

then

and Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied Classics. After his studies in Oxford he applied for the

Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

but due to a back ailment was not successful. He then spent a year teaching in

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and then joined the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

as assistant keeper in 1937. During the war the opportunity arose to join the Foreign Office; after the war, he served in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

for the

Allied Control Commission Following the termination of hostilities in World War II, the Allies were in control of the defeated Axis countries. Anticipating the defeat of Germany and Japan, they had already set up the European Advisory Commission and a proposed Far Easter ...

for Germany. He then specialized in Communist affairs and held the following positions: *

Charge d'affaires Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

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1957–59 *List of Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Serbia, Ambassador to Yugoslavia 1964–1968 *List of Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Russia, Ambassador to the USSR 1968–1971 He retired from the diplomatic service in 1971 and was appointed Corpus Christi College, Cambridge#List of Masters of Corpus Christi, Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. While at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Corpus he was also Chairman of the Appeal Committee of Cambridge University and was instrumental in the procurement of a new building to house the Faculty of Music. He retired from the Mastership in 1980 and was succeeded by Michael William McCrum, Michael McCrum. He died on 20 September 1983, aged 72.

Publications

Wilson wrote several books including: *''Life and Times of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić'' (1970) *''Tito's Yugoslavia'' (1979) *''Leonard Woolf: A political biography'', ed. Powell, (1978),

Family

Wilson's youngest sister was the philosopher Mary Warnock. Another younger sister, Grizel, married his Balliol friend, the historian and civil servant Michael Balfour (historian), Michael Balfour. Wilson married Elizabeth Fleming in 1937 and had three children, Elizabeth, Catherine (born 1940) and David (1941–1975). His daughter Elizabeth married Romanian people, Romanian pianist Radu Lupu. He was a good friend of the composer Benjamin Britten and the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.

Notes

References

WILSON, Sir (Archibald) Duncan
Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012
Sir Duncan Wilson
(obituary), ''The Times'', London, 22 September 1983 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Duncan 1911 births 1983 deaths Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Yugoslavia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Soviet Union Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Masters of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge People educated at Sandroyd School People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford