Curtis Keeble

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Sir Curtis Keeble
Jim Callaghan
Margaret Thatcher
Preceded byHoward Smith
Succeeded byIain Sutherland
Personal details
Born(1922-09-18)18 September 1922
Chingford, England
Died6 December 2008(2008-12-06) (aged 86)

Sir Herbert Ben Curtis Keeble

Ambassador to the Soviet Union
between 1978 and 1982.

Early life

He was born in

Queen Mary, University of London, where he studied Modern Languages.[1]

World War Two

His studies were interrupted by

Odessa despite the fact that, at the time, he did not speak fluent Russian.[1] It was later revealed that he should have been sent on a course to learn the language beforehand but never was due to a bureaucratic error, and as a result the men were "quite unmanageable" until the convoy reached Naples and a Red Army officer boarded.[1]

Diplomatic service

Experiences with convoys during the war inspired Keeble to apply to join

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1970 New Year Honours, at the time he was serving at the British High Commission in Australia.[5]

In 1971 he returned to London again as assistant under-secretary and handled negotiations with Iceland during the second Cod War. On 16 January 1974 he was posted again to East Germany as Ambassador,[6] where despite requesting a subdued colour for his official car he was given one that was bright red. According to him this later proved key, however; when Leonid Brezhnev was introduced to the British diplomatic staff he expressed amazement at Keeble's height (5 ft 9 in) telling him it did not do justice to his country, but "the situation was rapidly restored by the red Daimler".[1]

He was posted again in 1976 back to London, where he served as Chief Clerk at the

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in the Birthday Honours.[10]

Retirement

After retirement he continued to be involved in foreign affairs, serving as an adviser to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and from 1985 as chairman of the Great Britain-USSR Association.[1] In 1985 he also became a governor of the BBC, and from 1992 he served as chairman of the Foundation for Accountancy and Financial Management.[1] He was a director of one of Gerald Carroll's Carroll Group companies.[11]

Personal life

While serving in World War II, he met his future wife Margaret Fraser, with whom he had three daughters: Suzanne, a doctor; Sally Keeble, a Member of Parliament for Northampton North constituency from 1997 to 2010; and Jane Keeble, who was killed on 12 July 1998 in a car accident, after which he suffered a heart attack.[9][12] Lady Keeble died in 2014 aged 92.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Sir Curtis Keeble - Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. 11 December 2008. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
  2. ^ "No. 35984". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 April 1943. pp. 1809–1811.
  3. ^ "No. 38702". The London Gazette. 16 April 1943. p. 4189.
  4. ^ "No. 38548". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 March 1949. p. 1063.
  5. ^ "No. 44999". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1969. p. 4.
  6. ^ "No. 46272". The London Gazette. 23 April 1968. p. 5068.
  7. ^ "No. 47596". The London Gazette. 20 July 1978. p. 8701.
  8. ^ "No. 47549". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1978. p. 6231.
  9. ^ a b "Sir Curtis Keeble - Obituary". The Times. London. 2008. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
  10. ^ "No. 49008". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 1982. p. 4.
  11. ^ "SFO looks at 500m fall of Carroll empire", Dominic O'Connell, Sunday Business, 1 October 2000, p. 1.
  12. ^ "MP's sister killed by Hell's Angel". The Observer. 21 November 1999. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  13. ^ "KEEBLE - Deaths Announcements - Telegraph Announcements". announcements.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
British Ambassador to Russia

1978–1982 		Succeeded by
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