Sir Hughe Montgomery Knatchbull-Hugessen KCMG (26 March 1886 – 21 March 1971)[1] was a British diplomat, civil servant and author.
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He was the second son of Reverend Reginald Bridges Knatchbull-Hugessen, son of Sir Edward Knatchbull, 9th Baronet, and his second wife Rachel Mary, daughter of Admiral Sir Alexander Montgomery, 3rd Baronet.[2] Knatchbull-Hugessen was educated at Eton College and then at Balliol College, Oxford, where he befriended Anthony Eden and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1907.[3] A year later, he joined the Foreign Office.[4]
He soon obtained the chance of the paid post of an attaché and in October 1909 he went to Constantinople.[3] Returned to England, he served in the contraband department during the First World War and after its end in 1918, when the Foreign Service and the Diplomatic Service merged, Knatchbull-Hugessen became eligible for other postings.[3] Promoted to first secretary, he was attached to the British Delegation at the Versailles Conference in January 1919,[4] for which he was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1920 New Year Honours.[5]
After a stop in The Hague, followed by Paris, he became counsellor at the country's embassy in Brussel in 1926, an office he held until 1930.[1] In 1931 Knatchbull-Hugessen was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Republics of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia until 1934; he was stationed at Riga, Latvia. [6] Then he transferred to Tehran as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia.[4] He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 1936 New Year Honours[7] and was sent to China as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.[8] The following year, his car was machine-gunned by a Japanese fighter aircraft, and he was hit.[9] First hospitalised in Shanghai and then invalided home to Britain, he narrowly escaped paralysis.[3]
Having taken over a year to recover from his wound, Knatchbull-Hugessen was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Turkish Republic in 1939.[10] During his time in Ankara, his Albanian valet Elyesa Bazna, known as Cicero regularly opened his mail and safe, passing any useful information on to German High Command; one of the more damaging spying incidents of World War II.[11] In 1944, Knatchbull-Hugessen was nominated Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Belgium and additionally Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Luxembourg, retiring three years later.[12]
On 16 July 1912, he married Mary Gilmour, daughter of Brigadier-General Sir Robert Gilmour, 1st Baronet and had by her three children, one son and two daughters.[13]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Joseph Addison |
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Republics of Estonia, Lavia and Lithuania 1930–1934 |
Succeeded by Edmund Monson |
| Preceded by Sir Reginald Hoare |
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia 1934–1936 |
Succeeded by Sir Horace Seymour |
| Preceded by Sir Alexander Cadogan |
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to China 1936–1937 |
Succeeded by Archibald Clark Kerr |
| Preceded by Sir Percy Loraine, 12th Bt |
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Turkish Republic 1939–1944 |
Succeeded by Sir Noel Charles |
| Preceded by None due to World War II |
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Belgium 1944–1947 |
Succeeded by Sir George Rendel |
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Luxembourg 1944–1947 |
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