Sir David Arthur Roberts, KBE, CMG, CVO (8 August 1924 – 7 June 1987) was a British career diplomat who was ambassador to Lebanon, Syria and the United Arab Emirates.

Career

David Roberts was educated at

Hereford Cathedral School Hereford Cathedral School is an independent, co-educational day and boarding school for pupils of ages 3 to 18 years, from Nursery to Sixth Form. Its headmaster is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school's premi ...

and

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship S ...

. After wartime service in the Royal Armoured Corps he joined 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 ...

in 1947. He served in Baghdad,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

, Khartoum, Dakar, Damascus and Dubai, with some intervening posts in London, before being appointed High Commissioner to Barbados in 1971. Roberts was Ambassador to Syria 1973–76; High Commissioner to Sierra Leone 1976–77; Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates 1977–81; and Ambassador to Lebanon 1981–83. He was knighted in the New Year Honours in 1983Supplement to the London Gazette, 31 December 1982
/ref> and was director-general of the Middle East Association 1983–85. In 1985 he was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Durham University. Sir David was chairman of Herefordshire District Health Authority from 1986 until his death.

Publications

* ''The Ba'th and the Creation of Modern Syria'', Palgrave, 1987.

References

ROBERTS, Sir David (Arthur)
Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007, accessed 14 Feb 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, David Arthur Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Lebanon Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Syria Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United Arab Emirates Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Barbados High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Sierra Leone Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire 1924 births 1987 deaths People educated at Hereford Cathedral School British Army personnel of World War II Royal Armoured Corps soldiers British expatriates in Iraq British expatriates in Japan British expatriates in Egypt British expatriates in Sudan British expatriates in Senegal