Ridgway B. Knight

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Ridgway B. Knight|

| image_size =

| caption =

| order =

| title = United States Ambassador to Portugal

| term_start = July 30, 1969

| term_end = February 24, 1973

| predecessor = W. Tapley Bennett Jr.

| successor = Stuart Nash Scott

| president = Richard Nixon

| order2 = 44th

| title2 = United States Ambassador to Belgium

| term_start2 = June 24, 1965

| term_end2 = April 16, 1969

| predecessor2 = Douglas MacArthur II

| successor2 = John Eisenhower

| president2 = Lyndon B. Johnson
Richard Nixon

| order3 =

| title3 = United States Ambassador to Syria

| term_start3 = January 11, 1962

| term_end3 = May 27, 1965

| predecessor3 =

| successor3 = Hugh H. Smythe

| president3 = John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson

| birthname = Ridgway Brewster Knight

| birth_date = {{birth date|1911|06|12}}

| birth_place = Paris, France

| death_date = {{death date and age|2001|08|14|1911|06|12}}

| death_place = Inxent, France

| party =

| profession = Diplomat

| spouse =

| children =

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| image = Ridgway Knight.png

}}

Ridgway Brewster Knight (June 12, 1911 – August 14, 2001) was a French-born American diplomat who served as Ambassador to Syria (1961–1965), Belgium (1965–1969) and Portugal (1969–1973).{{cite web|accessdate=November 13, 2008|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/knight.html |title=Knight, Ridgway Brewster (1911-2001) |work=Political Graveyard}}{{Cite web |date=23 October 1993 |title=The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR RIDGWAY B. KNIGHT |url=https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Knight,%20Ridgway%20B%20.toc.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240627032119/https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Knight,%20Ridgway%20B%20.toc.pdf |archive-date=27 June 2024 |access-date=24 July 2024 |website=Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training}}

Early life and career

The son of American parents living in Paris (painter Louis Aston Knight and Caroline Ridgeway Brewster), he attended the University of Paris as well as Harvard University.{{Cite journal |date=May 1965 |title=Envoys Selected for Belgium, Ivory Coast, The Gambia |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112108168813&seq=301 |journal=State Department Newsletter |pages=33 |via=Hathitrust}} He graduated from Harvard Business School in 1931.{{cite news |title=OBITUARY : Ridgway Brewster Knight, 90 |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2001/08/18/t2_12.php |publisher=International Herald Tribune |date=2001-08-18 |accessdate=2008-12-30}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}

Following his studies, Knight began importing French wine to the US. He also served as a Major in the US Army from 1943-1945.

Knight joined the State Department in 1941. He was vice consul in Casablanca, and in 1942 took part in organizing the US landing in Algeria.{{Cite news|title=Longtime Ambassador Ridgway Knight Dies|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2001/09/13/longtime-ambassador-ridgway-knight-dies/52ab48c6-5426-45ac-b925-99671f7392b2/}} Knight served as U.S. ambassador to several countries, and later served as president of the American Club of Paris (1984–1989). From 1973 to 1981, he worked for Chase Manhattan Bank .

Personal life and death

Knight married Christine Saint-Léger at Inxent on February 19, 1983. His grandson, Ridgway B. Knight 3rd, married Patricia Wachtell on May 30, 1987.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/31/style/patricia-wachtell-bank-executive-is-married-to-ridgway-b-knight-3d.html| title=Patricia Wachtell, Bank Executive, Is Married to Ridgway B. Knight 3d| work=The New York Times| date= May 31, 1987 }} He died in Inxent, at the age of 90.

References

Sources

{{cite web|accessdate=November 13, 2008

|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/com/10390.htm

|title=Belgium

|publisher=U.S. Department of State}}

{{cite web|accessdate=November 13, 2008

|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/com/11147.htm

|title=Portugal

|publisher=U.S. Department of State}}

{{cite web|accessdate=November 13, 2008

|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/com/11286.htm

|title=Syria

|publisher=U.S. Department of State}}

[http://www.adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Knight,%20Ridgway%20B%20.toc.pdf "AMBASSADOR RIDGWAY B. KNIGHT"], The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110809225814/http://cisupa.proquest.com/ksc_assets/catalog/13152.pdf The John F. Kennedy National Security Files, 1961–1963]

{{succession box

| title = United States Ambassador to Syria

| years = 1961–1965

| before = Charles W. Yost

| after = Hugh H. Smythe

}}

{{succession box

| title = United States Ambassador to Belgium

| years = 1965–1969

| before = Douglas MacArthur II

| after = John S. D. Eisenhower

}}