John Kittmer

John Kittmer
John Kittmer
	British Ambassador to Greece
	In office; January 2013 – December 2016
Prime Minister	David Cameron; Theresa May
Preceded by	David Landsman
Succeeded by	Kate Smith
Personal details
Born	6 July 1967 (age 56); Cuckfield, Sussex
Domestic partner	David Bates
Education	Hymers College, Hull
Alma mater	Christ's College, Cambridge; King's College, London; Magdalen College, Oxford

John Kittmer (born 6 July 1967) is a British former diplomat. He was formerly the Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory jointly with the British Antarctic Territory.^[2]

Education

Kittmer was born in Sussex in 1967. From the years 1978–1985, he was educated at

independent day school in Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England, where he was taught Ancient Greek by Larry Trewartha and Gerald Thompson.^[3] Kittmer then attended Christ's College at the University of Cambridge, where he obtained a BA in Classics (1988), King's College London where he obtained an MA in Greek Studies (2007),^[3] and Magdalen College at the University of Oxford, at which he also studied Classics.^[3]

Kittmer joined the civil service in 1993, first at the

Cabinet Office in 2006–7, and back to DEFRA until 2012.^[2]

Kittmer served as the

British Ambassador to Greece from January 2013 until December 2016.^[1]^[4] He was succeeded in this role by Kate Smith in January 2017.^[5]

Kittmer was appointed to replace Peter Hayes as the Commissioner for the British Overseas Territories of the British Indian Ocean Territory and the British Antarctic Territory starting in December 2016. In June 2017, he left this post on a career break to continue his academic studies. In June 2019, he left the civil service permanently.

Kittmer currently sits on the board of directors of the Greek oil tanker company Okeanis.

Kittmer self-identifies as a 'northerner'. Kittmer entered into a

civil partnership with David Bates in 2007.^[2] He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix in April 2021.^[6]

^ ^a ^b "John Kittmer - Inside Government". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c KITTMER, John (online ed.). Oxford University Press [A & C Black]. 2014. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Old Hymerian becomes Her Majesty's Ambassador to Greece". Old Hymerians Association. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
^ "Postgraduate student appointed Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic". King's College London. 2012. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
^ "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to Greece". www.gov.uk. Press releases. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
^ "DR JOHN KITTMER RECEIVES AN AWARD FROM THE GREEK AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED KINGDOM". St. Paul's Anglican Church, Athens. Retrieved 27 October 2021.

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by David Landsman	British Ambassador to Greece 2013–2016	Succeeded by Kate Smith
Preceded by Peter Hayes	British Antarctic Territory 2016–2017	Succeeded by Ben Merrick