Sir Arthur Antony Duff (25 February 1920 – 13 August 2000) was a senior British diplomat and

Director General of MI5 __NOTOC__ The Director General of the Security Service is the head of the Security Service (commonly known as MI5), the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency. The Director General is assisted by a Deputy Director Gen ...

Early life and naval service

Duff was born on 25 February 1920, to Admiral Sir

Arthur Allen Morison Duff Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

KCB and Margaret Grace Dawson, at Var Trees House,

Moreton, Dorset Moreton is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated on the River Frome, Dorset, River Frome about east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester. In the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census the civil parish had 158 households and a pop ...

. Educated at the

Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, ...

, Duff started his career in the

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where he was a submarine commander during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; he briefly commanded and in 1942 before commanding from December 1942 to July 1944.

Diplomatic career

After the war Duff joined the

Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

in January 1946. He was Counsellor and Head of the

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of the United Kingdom Embassy in West Germany from 1962 to 1964, the British Ambassador to Nepal from 1964 to 1965; the Head of the South Asia Department of the Foreign Office from 1965 to 1969; the Deputy High Commissioner to Malaysia from 1969 to 1972; and the British High Commissioner to Kenya from 1972 to 1975. Duff was the Deputy Under Secretary for Middle East and Africa from 1975 to 1977; and the Deputy Under Secretary for Defence and Intelligence from 1977 to 1990, including serving concurrently as the Senior Deputy Under Secretary from 1976 to 1979. Having led the British official delegation to the

Lancaster House Lancaster House (originally known as York House and then Stafford House) is a mansion on The Mall, London, The Mall in the St James's district in the West End of London. Adjacent to The Green Park, it is next to Clarence House and St James ...

talks, he became Deputy Governor of Southern Rhodesia under Lord Soames from 1979 to 1980.

Cabinet Office and MI5

Duff was sworn of the Privy Council in 1980, the first diplomat to be so honoured since Sir

Alexander Cadogan Sir Alexander Montagu George Cadogan (25 November 1884 – 9 July 1968) was a British diplomat and civil servant. He was Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1938 to 1946. His long tenure of the Permanent Secretary's office makes ...

in 1940. Duff was Deputy Secretary (Intelligence and Security Co-ordinator) at the Cabinet Office with responsibility for security matters from 1980 to 1984. He was then

Director General of the Security Service Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

(

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

) from 1985 to 1988.

Later life

After his retirement in January 1988, Duff worked as a volunteer in a centre for the homeless and was a board member of ''Homeless Network'' in London.Obituary: Sir Antony Duff
''The Guardian'', 18 August 2000

Personal life and death

In 1944, Duff married Pauline Sword (née Bevan), a widow who had a child from her first marriage. The couple would go on to have three children together. Duff died from bronchopneumonia at

Yeovil District Hospital Yeovil Hospital, previously known as Yeovil District Hospital, is a hospital in Yeovil, Somerset, England, managed by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. The hospital provides acute care for a population of about 180,000, people living in South So ...

on 13 August 2000.

Early life and naval service

Diplomatic career

Cabinet Office and MI5

Later life

Personal life and death

References

Further reading