Peter Wittig (born 11 August 1954) is a former German diplomat who was

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

's Ambassador to the Court of St. James in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from July 2018, to April 2020, after having served as

Ambassador to the United States The following table lists ambassadors to the United States, , sorted by the representative country or organization. See also *Ambassadors of the United States Notes {{reflist, 30em External linksCurrent and former Ambassadors to the United Sta ...

from 30 April 2014, to 20 June 2018 and Permanent Representative at the United Nations in New York from 2009 to 2014.

Early life and education

Wittig studied at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

, the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

, 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 ...

. He has taught as an assistant professor at the University of Freiburg.

Diplomatic career

After joining the German foreign service in 1982, Wittig served as German ambassador to

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 ...

and to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. In 2009 Wittig was appointed to serve as Germany's permanent representative to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. Wittig has served twice as the

President of the United Nations Security Council The presidency of the United Nations Security Council is responsible for leading the United Nations Security Council. It rotates among the fifteen member-states of the council monthly. The head of the country's delegation is known as the president ...

, once in July 2011 and again in September 2012. Between 2011 and 2012, he headed among other committees the

Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee The ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee is a committee of the United Nations Security Council tasked with implementing international sanctions against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. It was established as the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanct ...

. From April 2014 to June 2018 Wittig served as the German ambassador to the United States and then moved to London where he served as Germany's ambassador to the Court of St. James until his retirement from diplomatic services end April 2020. In May 2020 he joined Scheffler Group in Germany to build up and lead a new division about global affairs. Besides that he has plans to do some academic work.

Other activities

* Atlantik-Brücke Foundation, member of the board of trustees * International Journalists’ Programmes, Arthur F. Burns Fellowship Program, member of the board of trustees (2014–2018)

Awards

Leo Baeck Medal The Leo Baeck Medal has been awarded since 1978 by the Leo Baeck Institute of New York City, an international research institute devoted to the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. It is the highest recognition the Institute b ...

(2018)

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wittig, Peter 1954 births Living people Ambassadors of Germany to Cyprus Ambassadors of Germany to Lebanon Ambassadors of Germany to the United States Ambassadors of Germany to the United Kingdom Permanent representatives of Germany to the United Nations University of Bonn alumni University of Freiburg alumni Alumni of Canterbury Christ Church University Alumni of the University of Oxford Academic staff of the University of Freiburg