Sir Brian James Proetel Fall (born 13 December 1937) is a retired British diplomat who was the UK's Special Representative for the South Caucasus 2002–12.

Education

Brian Fall was educated at

St Paul's School, London St Paul's School is a Selective school, selective Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent day school (with limited boarding school, boarding) for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by Rive ...

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, and the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (branded as Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparati ...

Career

After

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the British Army 1955–57, he continued as a reserve officer of the

Royal Military Police The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of army service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK and while service personnel are deployed overseas on operations ...

. He entered 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 obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

in 1962 and was appointed an established officer of the Service in 1965. He served in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

before a year as Course Director at the Civil Service College 1970–71. After serving in the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

and as consul at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

he spent a year as a visiting fellow at the

Center for International Affairs The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (WCFIA), formerly Center for International Affairs (CFIA) is a research center for international affairs and the largest international research center within Harvard University's Faculty of Arts a ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. After another period in Moscow 1977–79, Fall was head of the Energy, Science and Space Department at the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

(FCO) 1979–80 and then head of the Eastern European and Soviet Department 1980–81. He then spent three years as

Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs The principal private secretary to the secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs is the head of the private office of the foreign minister of His Majesty's Government, and is located in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Main Bui ...

, serving three Foreign Secretaries,

Lord Carrington Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Baron Carington of Upton (6 June 1919 – 9July 2018), was a British Conservative Party politician and hereditary peer who served as Defence Secretary from 1970 to 1974, Foreign Secreta ...

Francis Pym Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym, (13 February 1922 – 7 March 2008) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in various Cabinet positions in the 1970s and 1980s, including Foreign, Defence and Northern Ireland Secretary, and ...

and Sir Geoffrey Howe. He then worked for Lord Carrington again as Director of the Private Office of the

Secretary General of NATO The secretary general of NATO is the chief civil servant of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an intergovernmental military alliance with 32 member states. The officeholder is an international diplomat responsible for coordinat ...

before being appointed Assistant Under Secretary of State (Defence) at the FCO 1986–88. He was then Minister and Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

1988–89, High Commissioner to Canada 1989–92 and Ambassador to Russia 1992–95. As Ambassador to Russia just after the break-up of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Fall was also accredited to nine

Post-Soviet states The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...

until they received their own ambassadors. After retiring from the Diplomatic Service in 1995, Sir Brian Fall was principal of

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, located on a bank of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The ...

, from 1995 to 2002. He was also an adviser to

Rio Tinto Group Rio Tinto Group is a British-Australian multinational company that is the world's second largest metals and mining corporation (behind BHP). It was founded in 1873 when a group of investors purchased a mine complex on the Río Tinto, in Hu ...

and a governor of St Mary's School (Calne). In 2002 Sir Brian was appointed the UK's Special Representative for

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, becoming a member of the "Group of Friends of the UN Secretary General on Georgia". This appointment was later expanded to cover the whole of the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

Honours

Brian Fall was appointed CMG in the

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dy ...

of 1984, knighted KCMG in the

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

of 1992 and received the additional knighthood of GCVO in 1994. He was elected an honorary Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, on retiring as Principal. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by

York University, Toronto York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, and over 375,000 al ...

, in 2002.York University to award honorary degrees to former Ontario Lt.-Gov. Hilary Weston, retired British diplomat Sir Brian Fall
– York University

Offices held

References

FALL, Sir Brian (James Proetel)
''Who's Who 2014'', A & C Black, 2014 (online edition, Oxford University Press, Dec 2013) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fall, Brian James Proetel 1937 births Living people People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford University of Michigan Law School alumni Harvard Fellows Principal Private Secretaries to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Canada Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Russia Principals of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order