Basil Boothby

Evelyn Basil Boothby CMG was born on September 9, 1910, and died on February 9, 1990. He was a British diplomat who served in various diplomatic positions throughout his career.

Boothby was the only son among three children of Major Basil Tanfield Beridge Boothby (1873–1948), a member of the Royal Engineers with affiliations to the Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (MICE). His mother was Katherine Georgina, daughter of Major Francis Blake Knox of the Royal Artillery. His familial lineage includes a great-great-grandfather, Sir William Boothby, 7th Baronet. His grandfather and great-grandfather on his Boothby side were clergymen.

He received his education at Winchester College, a boarding school in England, followed by higher education at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.

In 1933, Boothby joined the British Diplomatic Service, initially serving as a student interpreter in the China Consular Service. He worked primarily in China until 1945, with brief periods in the United States and India during World War II. Following the war, he was appointed vice-consul in Athens, Greece, where he met Susan Asquith, granddaughter of former British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith. Boothby and Susan married in 1946.

He later served as Counsellor at the British Embassy in Rangoon (now Yangon), Myanmar, from 1951 to 1954, during which he acted as chargé d'affaires between ambassadors. From 1954 to 1959, he was the Counsellor at the British Embassy in Brussels, Belgium. Between 1959 and 1962, he headed the African Department at the Foreign Office in London.

Boothby was appointed as the Ambassador to Iceland from 1962 to 1965. Subsequently, he was the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the Council of Europe from 1965 to 1969. After retiring from active diplomatic service, he engaged in teaching roles at Morley College and later at the Department of Extra-Mural Studies at the University of London.

A commentary from The Times, published on February 22, 1990, noted that Boothby was more successful in fostering a positive impression of Britain among foreign audiences than in gaining recognition from his superiors within the diplomatic service. The piece suggested that had he been as successful with his colleagues as he was with foreigners, he might have advanced further in his career.