Sir Ivor Anthony Roberts (born 24 September 1946) is a retired British diplomat and the former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

. He was previously British Ambassador to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, Ireland, and Italy. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 2000. In addition to his British citizenship, he is now an

Irish citizen The primary law governing nationality of Republic of Ireland, Ireland is the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, which Coming into force, came into force on 17 July 1956. Ireland is a member state of the European Union (EU), and all ...

Education

Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, Roberts was educated at

St Mary's College, Crosby St. Mary's College is an independent Roman Catholic coeducational day school in Crosby, Merseyside, about north of Liverpool. It comprises an early years department "Bright Sparks" (age 0-4), preparatory school known as "The Mount" (age 4-11 ...

and the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, 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 List of oldest un ...

(

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to ...

, now

Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

), graduating with a degree in Modern Languages in 1968 and proceeded to take his MA in 1972.

Diplomatic career

Roberts 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 ...

(FCO) as

Third Secretary Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

in 1968. He went to study

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

MECAS The Middle East Centre for Arab Studies (MECAS) was an Arabic language college created by the British Army during World War II in Jerusalem, and relocated afterwards as a civilian institution to Lebanon near Beirut where it functioned between 1947� ...

in the

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

in 1969, and was posted to Paris in 1970. He was acting

Head of Chancery A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

in Luxembourg in 1973 before returning later that year to the FCO to serve firstly in Eastern European and Soviet Department (Balkans desk), then in Western European Department (German desk) and subsequently in European Integration Department, where he worked on the European Community's Common Agricultural Policy and the European Parliament. He was appointed First Secretary at the British High Commission in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

in 1978. In 1980 he was posted temporarily to the newly independent Pacific state of

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

(formerly New Hebrides) as Political Adviser at the time of a rebellion. He returned to Canberra as Head of the Economic and Commercial Department and Agricultural Adviser until 1982. He then returned to London and took up the post of Deputy Head of News Department in the FCO. From 1989 to 1993 he was Minister in the British Embassy in

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 ...

. He was appointed

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 ...

and

Consul-General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

in Belgrade in March 1994, and after recognition of the

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

by the United Kingdom, he became Ambassador. During his time at Belgrade he conducted negotiations on behalf of the international mediators (

David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 to 1979, and later ...

and

Carl Bildt Nils Daniel Carl Bildt (born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He led the Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999, appearing as its lead candidate in four general elections, b ...

) with both the Yugoslav authorities and the Bosnian Serbs. Roberts was also involved in the negotiations for the release of British soldiers held hostage by the Bosnian Serbs in May/June 1995. He left Belgrade at the end of 1997. In 1998–99 he took a sabbatical year as Senior Associate Member of

St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economics, politic ...

. Roberts returned as Ambassador to Ireland 1999–2003, and to Italy from March 2003 until his retirement in 2006.

After retirement

After Sir Ivor retired from

HM Diplomatic Service His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Civil Service, which deals ...

in September 2006 he took up the post of President of Trinity College, Oxford. On 24 September 2006 (his 60th birthday), ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

s Pendennis column reported that, following his outspoken valedictory report, the FCO had abandoned the centuries-old tradition of allowing departing diplomats to speak their minds. In April 2007, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' confirmed the story. In April 2017, Roberts announced that he had taken Irish citizenship following the

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

result. The citizenship arises from Roberts's father, who was born in Belfast.

Affiliations

Sir Ivor was the Chairman of the Council of the

British School at Rome The British School at Rome (BSR) is a British interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture established in Rome. Historical and archaeological study are at the core of its activities. History The British Sc ...

and a Patron of the

Venice in Peril Fund Venice in Peril Fund CIO is a British registered charity. It raises funds to restore and conserve the art and architecture of Venice, and to investigate ways to protect them against future risks, particularly rising sea levels. Although it foc ...

. He is also a member of the Board of the King's College Group in Madrid and was a Member of the International Advisory Board of

News and Media Group. Roberts is an advisory board member of the

Counter Extremism Project The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) is a non-profit non-governmental organization that combats extremist groups "by pressuring financial support networks, countering the narrative of extremists and their online recruitment, and advocating for st ...

Family

Roberts married Elizabeth Smith, a scholar of French poetry and formerly a diplomat in the Australian Foreign Service, in 1974. Lady Roberts is a writer and lecturer on Balkan politics. The couple have two sons and a daughter.

Publications

In 2009, Roberts edited the sixth edition of ''Satow's Diplomatic Practice'', originally written in 1917 by Sir

Ernest Satow Sir Ernest Mason Satow (30 June 1843 – 26 August 1929), was a British diplomat, scholar and Japanologist. He is better known in Japan, where he was known as , than in Britain or the other countries in which he served as a diplomat. He was ...

and widely used in embassies throughout the world (Oxford University Press: 2009; ). It was reviewed by Sir

Jeremy Greenstock Sir Jeremy Quentin Greenstock (born 27 July 1943) is a British retired diplomat, active from 1969 to 2004. Life and career Greenstock was educated at Harrow School and at Worcester College, Oxford. He was an assistant master at Eton College f ...

later the same year. The seventh centenary edition, also edited by Roberts, appeared in 2017 (). His memoir of his years in the Balkans, ''Conversations with Milosevic'', was published in 2016.

References

External links

Website of the British Embassy in Rome
* New appointments and honours, '' Oxford Today: The University Magazine'', 18:1 (Michaelmas 2005), p. 6
''Debrett's People of Today''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Ivor 1946 births Living people Diplomats from Liverpool People educated at St Mary's College, Crosby Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of HM Diplomatic Service Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Ireland Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Italy Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Yugoslavia Presidents of Trinity College, Oxford Fellows of the Chartered Institute of Linguists English people of Northern Ireland descent Naturalised citizens of Ireland 20th-century British diplomats