Alan Watt (diplomat) explained

Sir Alan Watt
Office1:Secretary of the Department of External Affairs
Term Start1:19 June 1950
Term End1:24 January 1954
Birth Name:Alan Stewart Watt
Birth Date:13 April 1901
Birth Place:Croydon, New South Wales
Death Place:Aranda, Australian Capital Territory
Occupation:Public servant, diplomat
Nationality:Australian
Spouse:[1]
Alma Mater:University of Sydney
University of Oxford
Children:3 sons, John Watt and a daughter

Sir Alan Stewart Watt (13 April 1901  - 18 September 1988) was an Australian diplomat.

Background and career

Born of Scottish heritage, Watt attended Sydney Boys High School. A graduate of the Universities of Sydney and Oxford, he was a New South Wales Rhodes Scholar for 1921.[2] In 1924, he played singles and doubles tennis at Wimbledon as the captain of Oxford.[1] [3] [4]

Watt first joined the Commonwealth Public Service in the Department of External Affairs, in 1937.[1] He served in the United States during World War II and was one of the Australian delegates at the United Nations Conference on International Organization.[5] In 1947 Watt became the Australian minister to the Soviet Union and in 1948 the first Australian Ambassador in Moscow.[5] In 1950 he returned to Australia and was appointed Secretary to the Department and was instrumental in negotiation of the ANZUS and SEATO treaties. He then served as High Commissioner to both Singapore and Southeast Asia (1954–1956), Ambassador to Japan (1956–1960) and Ambassador to Germany (1960–1962).[5] Leaving the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1962, he became a Visiting Fellow of the Australian National University, and Director of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (1963–1969).[5]

He wrote a number of books and articles in retirement, including The Evolution of Australian Foreign Policy 1938–1965 (1967, Cambridge University Press, 67-10782), Vietnam - An Australian Analysis (1968, Melbourne, F. W. Cheshire for Australian Institute of International Relations), and Australian Diplomat - Memoirs of Sir Alan Watt (1972, Angus and Robertson,).

Awards and honours

Alan Watt was honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in June 1952, and as a Knight Bachelor in June 1954.

In 2011, a street in the Canberra suburb of Casey was named Alan Watt Crescent in Watt's honour.

Works

Notes and References

  1. News: https://web.archive.org/web/20140216095503/http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article102072871. 16 February 2014. Obituary: Diplomat, author and athlete: Sir Alan Stewart Watt. live. 20 September 1988. The Canberra Times. 8.
  2. News: Sir Alan Watt's New Post. 2 August 1963. The Canberra Times. 16 February 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140216095230/http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109900838. live.
  3. Web site: The Championships 1924 . Gentlemen's Singles . All England Lawn Tennis Club . 7 February 2019.
  4. Web site: The Championships 1924 . Gentlemen's Doubles . All England Lawn Tennis Club . 7 February 2019.
  5. 1969. Retirement of Sir Alan Watt as director. Australian Outlook (Now Known as Australian Journal of International Affairs). 23. 3. 298. 1465-332X. 10.1080/10357716908444356.