Christopher William Long (9 April 1938 – 5 May 2023) was a British diplomat. Following his retirement in 1998, Long served as director of the

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

Foreign Service Programme from 1999 to 2003.

Diplomatic career

Christopher Long joined HM Diplomatic Service as Third Secretary in 1963, and went to study

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at MECAS in Lebanon in 1964. He was posted as Third Secretary later Second Secretary to Jedda in 1965, and two years later was posted as First Secretary to

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. He returned to the FCO in London in 1969. He became Head of Chancery in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

in 1974 and attended the

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CSCE Meeting in 1977. Long was posted as Counsellor to

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

in 1978, and to UKMIS

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in 1980. He was appointed Head of the FCO's Near East and North Africa Department in 1983. He became Assistant Under-Secretary of State (concurrently Deputy Chief Clerk and Chief Inspector) in the FCO in 1985. Long served as the United Kingdom's

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to Switzerland (1988–1992), Egypt (1992–1995) and Hungary (1995–1998).

Post retirement

From 1998, Long was a director of Gedeon Richter Ltd., the largest pharmaceutical factory in Hungary. He was also a trustee of The Orders of St John Care Trust.

Personal life and death

Long married Patricia Ann Eleanor Stanbridge in 1972. They had one daughter (born 1974) and two sons (born 1977 and 1982). Long died on 5 May 2023, at the age of 85.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Christopher William 1938 births 2023 deaths 20th-century British diplomats Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Egypt Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Hungary Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Switzerland Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of HM Diplomatic Service