Anthony Eden

Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977), was a British politician and military officer who held various governmental positions, including Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 to 1957.

Eden was born at Windlestone Hall, County Durham, into a family associated with the landed gentry and the aristocracy. His father was Sir William Eden, 7th and 5th Baronet, a former colonel and local magistrate, and his mother was Sybil Frances Grey of the Grey family of Northumberland. Eden was the third of four sons; his elder brother, John, was killed in action in 1914 during World War I, and his younger brother, Nicholas, died in 1916 when the battlecruiser HMS Indefatigable was sunk at the Battle of Jutland.

Eden was educated at Sandroyd School in Surrey from 1907 to 1910, where he excelled in languages, and at Eton College beginning in January 1911. At Eton, he was awarded a Divinity prize and played cricket, rugby, and rowing. He learned French and German during his holidays abroad and was fluent enough to speak with notable figures such as Adolf Hitler in German and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in French.

During the First World War, Eden volunteered for the British Army and served with the 21st (Service) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps, a unit recruited from County Durham and London. He was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in November 1915 and served on the Western Front. His brother William Nicholas Eden was killed aboard HMS Indefatigable at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Eden was awarded the Military Cross for a raid into an enemy trench in 1916, an award he referenced in his memoirs but did not widely discuss in his political career. He was promoted to temporary lieutenant in July 1917, and later served on the General Staff as a GSO3 with the rank of captain.

Eden's early career included a focus on languages and an interest in politics, which grew during his teenage years. Although he claimed to have had no interest in politics until the early 1920s, biographers note his active engagement with political debates during his youth. He was associated with the Conservative Party and supported free trade policies.

In his political career, Eden quickly rose through the ranks of the Conservative Party, becoming foreign secretary at age 38. He served as foreign secretary during most of World War II and again in the early 1950s. In 1955, Eden succeeded Winston Churchill as leader of the Conservative Party and became Prime Minister following a general election victory. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the Suez Crisis of 1956, which significantly affected his reputation and the standing of Britain as a global power.

Eden resigned as Prime Minister in January 1957, citing ill health and after controversy over the handling of the Suez Crisis and the extent of collusion with France and Israel. Throughout his career, Eden was considered to have had a mixed legacy, with some historiographical reassessment suggesting a more nuanced view of his abilities and decisions. He was the first of fifteen British Prime Ministers appointed by Queen Elizabeth II during her reign.

Eden married Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, the daughter of Winston Churchill, and they had children together. He was ennobled as Earl of Avon in 1961. Eden died in 1977 at the age of 79.