Charles Ritchie
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Charles Stewart Almon Ritchie, CC , LL.D (September 23, 1906 - June 7, 1995) was a Canadian diplomat and diarist.
Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he was Canada’s ambassador to West Germany (1954-1958), Permanent Representative to the United Nations (1958-1962), ambassador to the United States during the presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson (1962-1966), ambassador to the North Atlantic Council (1966-1967) and from 1967 to 1971 was Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in London.
While Ritchie's career as a diplomat marked him as an important person in the history of Canadian foreign relations, he became famous through the publication of his diaries, first The Siren Years, and then his two follow-ups.
In 1969 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. He received honorary doctorates Trent University (1976), York University (1992) and Carleton University (1992).
Ritchie came from a long-prominent family in Nova Scotia. His brother, Roland Ritchie, continuing a family tradition in the law, was a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
[edit] Selected works
- The Siren Years: A Canadian Diplomat Abroad 1937-1945 Toronto: Macmillan, 1974. ISBN 0-7710-7526-X, winner of the 1974 Governor General's Awards
- An Appetite for Life: The Education of a Young Diarist, 1924-1927 Toronto: Macmillan, 1977. ISBN 0-7705-1573-8.
- Diplomatic Passport Toronto: Macmillan, 1981. ISBN 0-7715-9587-5.
- Storm Signals Toronto: Macmillan, 1983. ISBN 0-7715-9782-7.
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Arnold Heeney |
Canadian Ambassador to the United States of America 1962–1966 |
Succeeded by Edgar Ritchie |
| Preceded by Lionel Chevrier |
Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom 1967–1971 |
Succeeded by Jake Warren |
