Alexander Paul A'Court Bergne

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(9 January 1937 – 5 April 2007) was a British diplomat and noted

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

., ''The Independent'',16 April 2007Times Obit for Paul Bergne
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Life

Bergne's mother was Diana Holman-Hunt, a noted English

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

writer and

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

. His great-grandfather was

William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolism ...

, a founder of the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossett ...

in 1848. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where his degree was in Economics and Archaeology and Anthropology, and later at the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

for an MA degree in Persian language and literature. Later he learned Arabic at the Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies. Bergne served for 30 years in the

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (MI numbers, Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of Human i ...

, then 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 ...

and was the first British Ambassador to Uzbekistan (1993–95) and Tajikistan (1994–95) following the demise of the Soviet Union. In 2001 he was briefly brought out of retirement to lead a mission to northern Afghanistan to make contact with anti-Taliban leaders. Bergne died of cancer in 2007.

List of publications

*Paul Bergne. ''The birth of Tajikistan: National Identity and the Origins of the Republic''. Volume 1 of International Library of Central Asia Studies. I.B. Tauris, 2007. ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergne, Paul 1937 births 2007 deaths People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Alumni of SOAS University of London MI6 personnel Central Asian studies scholars Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Tajikistan Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Uzbekistan Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English historians 20th-century English male writers