John Addis
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Photo: Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Sir John Addis KCMG (11 June 1914 – 31 July 1983) was a British diplomat, ambassador to Laos, the Philippines and China, and a collector of Ming porcelain which he gave to the British Museum.
Career
[edit]John Mansfield Addis was educated at Rugby School and Christ Church, Oxford, and joined the Foreign Office in 1938.[1] After postings at Nanking, Peking and the Foreign Office, he was ambassador to Laos 1960–62;[2] Fellow at the Harvard Center for International Affairs 1962–63; ambassador to the Philippines 1963–70;[3] Senior Civilian Instructor at the Imperial Defence College 1970–71; and ambassador to China 1972–74. After retiring from the Diplomatic Service, Addis was Senior Research Fellow in Contemporary Chinese Studies at Wolfson College, Oxford, 1975–82. He was a trustee of the British Museum.
Honours
[edit]Addis was appointed CMG in the New Year Honours of 1959[4] and knighted KCMG in the New Year Honours of 1973.[5]
- Sir John Addis will be remembered with gratitude, respect and affection at the British Museum. His gift in 1975 of twenty-three pieces of early Chinese porcelain of superb quality and importance was not only one of the Museum's major benefactions this century but also a carefully thought out addition to the existing collections, every piece having been deliberately chosen in advance to fill gaps in the permanent exhibition.
— Lawrence Smith, Keeper of Oriental Antiquities, British Museum[6]
Publications
[edit]- The India-China border question, Harvard University, 1963.[7]
- Chinese ceramics from datable tombs, Philip Wilson Publishers, 1978. ISBN 0856670391
References
[edit]- ^ "No. 34560". The London Gazette. 11 October 1938. p. 6365.
- ^ "No. 42001". The London Gazette. 5 April 1960. p. 2467.
- ^ "No. 43135". The London Gazette. 18 October 1963. p. 8490.
- ^ "No. 41589". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1959. p. 5.
- ^ "No. 45860". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1973. p. 4.
- ^ Lawrence Smith, Sir John Addis, The Times, London, 8 August 1983, page 10
- ^ "The India-China border question". WorldCat.org. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
Further reading
[edit]- ADDIS, Sir John (Mansfield), Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012
- Sir John Addis (obituary), The Times, London, 2 August 1983, page 12
- Sir John M Addis (Biographical details), British Museum
External links
[edit]- Addis, Sir John Mansfield – archive material listed at the Archives Hub
- Papers relating to the diplomatic career and scholarly interests of Sir John Mansfield Addis are held at SOAS Archives
- 1914 births
- 1983 deaths
- People educated at Rugby School
- Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
- British people of World War II
- Academics of the Royal College of Defence Studies
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Laos
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Philippines
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to China
- Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Fellows of Wolfson College, Oxford
- Trustees of the British Museum
- Historians of East Asian art