Robin Fearn

Patrick Robin Fearn was educated at Ratcliffe College and University College, Oxford. After national service 1952–54 he worked for Dunlop Rubber in Venezuela and the Caribbean 1957–61, then joined the Diplomatic Service. Between posts at the Foreign Office (later the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, FCO) he served at the embassies in Caracas, Havana, Budapest, as Head of Chancery and Consul at Vientiane 1972–75[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/45876/supplements/480 The London Gazette, 11 January 1973] and as Head of Chancery and Consul General at Islamabad 1977–79.[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/47174/pages/3580 The London Gazette, 15 March 1977] He was head of the South America department at the FCO 1979–82, culminating in the invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina on 2 April 1982.

:From the moment of the invasion, it fell to Fearn to organise and animate – indeed, almost to invent – the emergency unit which had to manage intra-Whitehall coordination as well as to seek international support for the UK's response. He worked almost without pause for weeks on end, but remained calm, reassuring and approachable, encouraging his team by his own example as they shouldered a huge burden of work. – Obituary, The Guardian

After the war Fearn spent 1983 at the Royal College of Defence Studies, writing a thesis on the Antarctic Treaty. He was ambassador to Cuba 1984–86, assistant Under-Secretary of State (Americas) at the FCO 1986–89, and ambassador to Spain 1989–94. He was appointed CMG after the Falklands war[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/49375/supplements/4 Supplement to the London Gazette, 11 June 1983] and knighted KCMG during his posting to Spain.[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/52382/supplements/3 Supplement to the London Gazette, 31 December 1990]

After retiring from the Diplomatic Service, Fearn was director of the Oxford University Diplomatic Studies Programme and visiting Fellow of University College 1995–99.[http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/webfiles/FSP-AboutFSP2012.pdf About the Oxford University Foreign Service Programme], Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford

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• [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U15561 FEARN, Sir (Patrick) Robin], Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007
• [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/oct/06/guardianobituaries.Whitehall Sir Robin Fearn] (obituary), The Guardian, London, 6 October 2006
• [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1530293/Sir-Robin-Fearn.html Sir Robin Fearn] (obituary), The Telegraph, London, 2 October 2006

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{{S-bef |before=David Thomas}}

{{S-ttl |title=Ambassador to Cuba |years=1984–1986}}

{{S-aft |after=Andrew Palmer}}

{{S-bef |before=Lord Nicholas Gordon-Lennox}}

{{S-ttl |title=Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Madrid |years=1989–1994}}

{{S-aft |after=David Brighty}}

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Category:1934 births

Category:2006 deaths

Category:Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies

Category:People educated at Ratcliffe College

Category:Alumni of University College, Oxford

Category:Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Cuba

Category:Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Spain

Category:Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George

Category:Fellows of University College, Oxford