Sir David Norman Reddaway (born 26 April 1953) is a retired British diplomat who was High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to Ireland and Turkey.
Career
Reddaway was born in
Ottawa, Ontario
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, Canada, where his father,
Norman Reddaway, also a British diplomat, was posted at the time. He attended
King's College School, Cambridge and
Oundle School
Oundle School is a public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire ...
, then studied History at
Fitzwilliam College,
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, where his grandfather, the historian
William Fiddian Reddaway, had served as Censor. He joined 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 ...
in 1975. His career has included assignments to Iran (during the
Iranian revolution
The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...
), India, Spain, Argentina and Afghanistan.
In 2002, his appointment as British
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 Iran was rejected by the Iranian government, with some Iranian newspapers incorrectly accusing him of being "a
Jew
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
and a member of
MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
".
[ He speaks fluent Persian.
He served as High Commissioner to Canada between 2003 and 2006. In 2006 he was appointed the British Ambassador to Ireland and presented his diplomatic credentials to the ]President of Ireland
The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as ...
, Mary McAleese
Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer, academic, author, and former politician who served as the president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. McAleese was first elected as president in 1997, ...
on 12 September 2006, succeeding Stewart Eldon as the ambassador.
He was appointed to Turkey in 2009, and left Ankara
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
in January 2014.
Following his retirement from the FCO, he was Chief Executive and Clerk of the Goldsmiths' Company from 2016-2023.
Reddaway was appointed MBE 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 1980, CMG in 1993, and knighted KCMG in the 2013 Birthday Honours "for services to British diplomacy and furthering UK interests in Turkey".
Reddaway had the honour of celebrating his 64th birthday at a Chris de Burgh concert. De Burgh announced Sir David's birthday to a packed audience at the London Palladium on April 26, 2017, and gave a brief account of his role as a diplomat. He then sang the Beatles song 'When I'm 64.'
Personal
David Reddaway married Roshan Firouz in the late summer of 1981,[ ]
David remarried, to Gabrielle Claire O’Driscoll, in March, 2020.
Career
*1975–1977: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Desk Officer for East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
and the Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
*1977–1980: Tehran
Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
: 3rd Secretary Commercial; 2nd later 1st Secretary Political
*1980–1984: Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, 1st Secretary Political
*1984–1986: Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...
Department, Desk Officer
*1986–1988: Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Private Secretary to Minister(s) of State
*1988–1990: New Delhi
New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
, 1st Secretary Political
*1990–1993: Tehran, chargé d'affaires
A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...
*1993–1997: Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, Minister & Deputy Head of Mission
*1997–1999: FCO: Head of Southern European Department
*1999–2001: FCO: Director Public Services
*2002–2002: London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, UK Special Representative for Afghanistan
*2002–2003: Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
, Visiting Fellow
*2003–2006: Ottawa, High Commissioner
*2006–2009: Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, Ambassador
*2009–2014: Ankara, Ambassador
*2016–2023: Chief Executive and Clerk, The Goldsmiths' Company
Arms
Notes
References
External links
The British Embassy in Turkey Career history
— biography from the British Embassy's website
Britain’s new man in Ireland
— ''Sunday Business Post
The ''Business Post'' (formerly ''The Sunday Business Post'') is a Sunday newspaper distributed nationally in Ireland and an online publication. It is focused mainly on business and financial issues in Ireland.
Founding to Irish financial crisi ...
'' interview, 17 September 2006
A high-flying veteran diplomat
— BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
article, 8 February 2002
REDDAWAY, Sir David (Norman)
''Who's Who 2014'', A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reddaway, David Norman
Living people
1953 births
People educated at Oundle School
Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
Harvard Fellows
Members of HM Diplomatic Service
High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Canada
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Ireland
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Turkey
Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Members of the Order of the British Empire
20th-century British diplomats
21st-century British diplomats