Kirkpatrick, Ivone, Sir, 1897-1964

Ivone Kirkpatrick was born on 3 February 1897 in Wellington, India. He entered the diplomatic service in July 1919. During the Second World War Kirkpatrick was appointed Director of the Foreign Division of the Ministry of Information in April 1940; he became Controller of the European services of the BBC in October 1941.

In June 1950, Kirkpatrick was appointed by King George VI as British High Commissioner for Germany. As one of the three joint sovereigns of western Germany, Kirkpatrick carried immense responsibility particularly with respect to the negotiation of the Bonn conventions during 1951–52. In January 1953 Kirkpatrick ordered the arrest of high-level of former Nazi officials that later became known as the Naumann Circle.

In 1953 Kirkpatrick became the Permanent Under-Secretary (PUS). His tenure culminated in the Suez Crisis of 1956. He retired from the Foreign Office in 1957. He died in Donacomper Ireland, on 25 May 1964.