Keith Edward Abbott (1814–1873) was a British diplomat 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 ...

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

and later

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

Family background

Keith was born in London, the 5th son of Henry Alexius Abbott, a retired

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

merchant of Blackheath,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, and his wife Margaret Welsh, the daughter of William Welsh of Edinburgh. He had the following siblings: * Margaret (1801–1877) * Major General Augustus Abbott, CB (1804–1867) * Major General Sir Frederick Abbott, CB (1805–1892) * General Sir James Abbott, KCB (1807–1896) * Emma Abbott (1809–1875) * Major General Saunders Alexius Abbott (1811–1894) * Edmund Abbott (1816-1816)

Career

Between 1835 and 1837, K.E. Abbott stayed in the northeastern Ottoman town of

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

, perhaps as assistant in the British Consulate there.Abbotts' 'Notes of a tour in Armenia in 1837' (see Publications list below) p.207 He was first appointed to the Consulate of

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. ...

in 1841, from where he transferred, in 1842, to Tabriz. K. E. Abbott was appointed Consul of Tabriz in April 1854, and remained there till the rupture between England and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in 1856, and returned to the same place, as Consul-General, on the renewal of relations with Persia, in July 1857. In July 1868 he became Consul-General of the Russian Ports in the Black Sea and

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...

, residing at Odessa, and remaining there until his death on 28 April 1873. During his service in Iran he produced a series of valuable reports on Iran's economy, commerce and society (see publication list below).

References

Publications

'Notes of a Tour in Armenia in 1837', in: Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London 12 (1842) pp.207-220
* ''Cities and Trade: Consul Abbott on Economy and Society of Iran, 1847-1866''. Edited with an introduction by Abbas Amanat (London: Ithaca Press for the Board of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Oxford University, 1983). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Keith Edward 1814 births 1873 deaths Consuls for the United Kingdom People from Blackheath, London 19th-century British diplomats British expatriates in the Russian Empire