Charles Ritchie (diplomat)

Charles Ritchie
Canadian Ambassador to West Germany
In office
1954–1958
Preceded by Thomas Clayton Davis
Succeeded by John Kennett Starnes
Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations
In office
1958–1962
Preceded by Robert Alexander MacKay
Succeeded by Paul Tremblay
Canadian Ambassador to the United States
In office
1962–1966
Preceded by Norman Robertson
Succeeded by Edgar Ritchie
Canadian Ambassador to the North Atlantic Council
In office
1966–1967
Preceded by George Ignatieff
Succeeded by Ross Campbell
High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom
In office
1967–1971
Preceded by Lionel Chevrier
Succeeded by Jake Warren
Personal details
Born Charles Stewart Almon Ritchie
(1906-09-23)September 23, 1906
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Died June 7, 1995(1995-06-07) (aged 88)
Ottawa, Ontario
Relations Roland Ritchie, brother

Charles Stewart Almon Ritchie, CC (September 23, 1906 June 7, 1995) was a Canadian diplomat and diarist.

Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Ritchie was educated at University of King's College, Pembroke College, Oxford, Harvard University, and École Libre des Sciences Politiques.[1] He joined the Department of External Affairs in 1934 eventually becoming 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.[2]

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 three follow-ups. The diaries document both his diplomatic career and his private life, including the beginning of his long love affair with the Anglo-Irish writer Elizabeth Bowen, which began in 1941 when he was still single and she married, survived through his marriage in 1948 and long periods of separation, lasting until Bowen's death in 1973.[1]

In 1969 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada "for services in the field of diplomacy".[3] He received honorary doctorates from Trent University (1976),[4] York University (1992)[5] and Carleton University (1992).[6]

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.[7]

Selected works

References

  1. 1 2 Victoria Glendinning, ed. (2008). Love's Civil War: Elizabeth Bowen and Charles Ritchie. McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 0771035667.
  2. W.H. New, ed. (2002). Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802007619.
  3. Order of Canada citation
  4. "Trent Honorary Graduates And Eminent Service Award Winners". Trent University.
  5. "Honorary Degrees Recipients". York University.
  6. "Honorary Degrees Awarded Since 1954". Carleton University.
  7. "Roland A. Ritchie". The Canadian Encyclopedia.
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