Bernard Ledwidge

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Bernard Ledwidge, Sir William Bernard John Ledwidge, KCMG (9 November 1915 – 20 February 1998) was a British diplomat and writer. He served as the British ambassador to Finland from 1969 to 1972 and to Israel from 1972 to 1975. He also chaired the UK Committee for UNICEF from 1976 to 1989.

Early life and education
Born in London to Charles Ledwidge and Eileen O'Sullivan, he studied at Cardinal Vaughan School, then King’s College, Cambridge and Princeton University. He was a Commonwealth Fund Fellow from 1937 to 1939.

Career
In 1939 he joined the India Office as an Assistant Principal. During World War II he served in the Royal Artillery in India (1940) and then in the Indian Army (1941–1945). He received the CMG in 1964 and was knighted as KCMG in 1974. His diplomatic work took him to the United States, Afghanistan and Berlin, and he was Minister at the British Embassy in Paris from 1966 to 1969. After Finland, he led Britain’s mission to Israel until 1975.

Personal life and writings
He married Anne Kingsley in 1948; they had two children and divorced in 1970. He then married Flora Groult in 1970. Ledwidge published Frontiers (1979), a novel based on his experiences in India, and Charles de Gaulle (1983), a biography with a French translation published in 1984. He died in London in 1998. He was a member of the Travellers Club and the Marylebone Cricket Club.