Howard Smith (diplomat)
Howard Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 October 1919 |
| Died | 7 May 1996 (aged 76) |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge |
| Occupation(s) | Intelligence officer, Diplomat |
| Espionage activity | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom  |
| Service branch | MI5 |
| Service years | 1979–1981 |
| Rank | Director General of MI5 |
Sir Howard Frank Trayton Smith GCMG (15 October 1919 – 7 May 1996) was a British diplomat who served as Director General of MI5 from 1978 to 1981.
Career[edit]
Smith was born and raised in Wembley. He was educated at Regent Street Polytechnic and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he won an exhibition to read mathematics and was a contemporary of Asa Briggs, with whom he played chess.[1][2][3] At the outset of the Second World War he was drafted to work at Bletchley Park as a codebreaker, recommending his friend Briggs to fellow Cambridge mathematician Gordon Welchman for service in Hut 6.[2][4]
From 1946 to 1950, Smith served in the Foreign Service in Oslo and Washington. In 1953, he was Consul in Caracas; between 1961 and 1963, he was Counsellor of State in Moscow.[3] Returning to London, he was the Head of the Department at the Foreign Office dealing with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe for the next five years.[1] He then served as Ambassador to Czechoslovakia from 1968 to 1971 and later served as Ambassador to the Soviet Union in Moscow from 1976 to 1978.[3]
In 1978 Smith was unexpectedly appointed Director General (DG) of MI5, the United Kingdom's internal security service, by Prime Minister James Callaghan, serving until March 1981.[1] He was the first DG from a background in the diplomatic service. Callaghan later explained that he: wanted 'to bring someone into the office from a different culture'.[5]
Honours[edit]
- Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, 1966
- Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, 1976
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, 1981
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Albert Buckley, Obituary: Sir Howard Smith, The Independent, 10 May 1996.
- ^ a b Jones, Nigel (15 March 2016). "Asa Briggs obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
- ^ a b c "Smith, Sir Howard (Frank Trayton), (15 Oct. 1919–7 May 1996), HM Diplomatic Service, retired". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u181969. ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
- ^ Derek Taunt, "Breaking German Naval Enigma", p. 111 in Action this Day, edited by Ralph Erskine and Michael Smith, 2001, ISBN 0-593-04982-9.
- ^ "Sir Howard Smith | MI5 - The Security Service". www.mi5.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
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- 1919 births
- 1996 deaths
- Directors General of MI5
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Bletchley Park people
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Soviet Union
- Members of HM Diplomatic Service
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Czechoslovakia
- British mathematicians
- Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
- 20th-century British diplomats
- British crime biography stubs