Sir Michael Romily Heald Jenkins, (9 January 1936 – 31 March 2013) was a British diplomat. Born in

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 ...

and son of the Byzantine scholar,

Romilly Jenkins Romilly James Heald Jenkins (1907 – 30 September 1969) was a British scholar in Byzantine and Modern Greek studies. He occupied the prestigious seat of Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature at King's C ...

, he was trained as a Russian interpreter during his National Service. He subsequently studied languages and history as an Exhibitioner at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

(1956–59), from where he graduated and joined the Diplomatic Service in 1959. Following senior postings in Europe, including ten years at the European Commission, he became Minister at the

British Embassy in Washington The British Embassy, Washington D.C. (alternatively in the US, Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington, D.C.) is the British sovereign's diplomatic mission to the United States of America, representing the interests of the United Kingdom and B ...

, and in 1988 Ambassador to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. He retired from 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 ...

in 1993 after which he joined the Board of

Kleinwort Benson Kleinwort Benson was a leading investment bank that offered a wide range of financial services from offices throughout the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. Two families, the Kleinworts and the Bensons, founded two different merchant banks in ...

as an executive director, becoming Vice-Chairman of

Dresdner Kleinwort Benson SG Kleinwort Hambros is a private bank owned by Société Générale that offers financial services from offices throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Gibraltar. History In June 2016, Société Générale acquired Kleinwort Benson ...

in 1996. For five years he was a non-executive director of

Aegon Aegon Ltd. (stylized as AEGON) is a Dutch public company for life insurance, pensions and asset management. It is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and has 26,000 employees as of July 21, 2020. Aegon is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam a ...

, the Dutch-based insurance company. In 2003 he was appointed President of

Boeing UK Boeing United Kingdom Limited (; or simply Boeing UK) is a subsidiary of Boeing that operates in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The managing director of Boeing UK & Ireland is Martin Donnelly (civil servant), Sir Martin ...

. In 2007, he joined the Board of Geopark, the Aim listed oil and gas company, as a non-executive Director; and in March 2008, Sir Michael became Chairman of Matra Petroleum plc. Sir Michael held several senior positions at the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) and was Chairman of the Club from 2000–2001. He was also a Commissioner at the

Royal Hospital Chelsea The Royal Hospital Chelsea is an Old soldiers' home, Old Soldiers' retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse — the ancient sense of the word "hospital" — by King Charles II of Eng ...

. While serving a tour of duty 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 ...

, he researched a biography of

Aleksey Arakcheyev Count Alexey Andreyevich Arakcheyev or Arakcheev (; b. in Garusovo – d. in Gruzino) was an Imperial Russian general and statesman during the reign of Tsar Alexander I. He served under Tsars Paul I and Alexander I as an army commander an ...

which was published in 1969, and towards the end of his diplomatic career he wrote a memoir of his youth, ''A House in Flanders''. He also edited a memoir by his aunt, the writer Elizabeth Jenkins, which was published in 2005, her 100th year. Jenkins was made a

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

in 1989 for his diplomatic services.Air & Business Travel News

Books

*''Arakcheev: Grand Vizier of the Russian Empire'' (Faber and Faber, and The Dial Press, 1969) *''A House in Flanders'' (Souvenir Press 1992, Meulenhoff 1992, Minerva 1993, Viking 1993, Clausen 1994 & La Table Ronde 1996) *''The View from Downshire Hill'' (Editor) (Michael Russell 2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Michael 1936 births 2013 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Netherlands