Sir Leslie Fielding KCMG (29 July 1932 – 4 March 2021) was a British diplomat.[1] In the Diplomatic Service, he spent time in the Foreign Office in London before serving as the European Commission Ambassador to Tokyo between 1978 and 1982. He was Director-General for external relations at the European Commission from 1982 to 1987.

Early life

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Fielding was the son of Percy Fielding and Margaret Calder.[1] He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and the School of Oriental and African Studies, where he studied Persian.

Career

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Fielding spent seven years in the Foreign Office in London, as well as serving political assignments in overseas embassies in Tehran, Singapore, Phnom Penh and Paris.[2] He joined the European Commission in 1973 and was the Ambassador to Tokyo between 1978 and 1982. Upon his return from Japan, he became the Director-General for external relations at the European Commission. Fielding was knighted in 1988. He was a non-executive director of IBM (Europe) and a special adviser to Panasonic. Between 1987 and 1992 he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex.[2]

He was a patron of the Society of King Charles the Martyr.

Death

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Sir Leslie died on 4 March 2021 after a short illness.[3]

Publications

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  • Europe as a global partner: the external relations of the European Community, University Association for Contemporary European Studies, London, 1989. ISBN 0906384303
  • Before the Killing Fields: Witness to Cambodia and the Vietnam War, I.B.Tauris, 2007. ISBN 1845114930
  • "Kindly call me God": the misadventures of 'Fielding of the FO', Eurocrat extraordinaire and vice-chancellor semipotentiary, Boermans Books, 2009. ISBN 0956216714
  • Twilight over the Temples: the close of Cambodia's Belle Epoque, Boermans Books, 2011. ISBN 0956216722
  • The Mistress of the Bees: a novel, Boermans Books, 2011. ISBN 0956216730
  • Mentioned in despatches: Phnom Penh, Paris, Tokyo, Brussels: is diplomacy dead?, Boermans Books, 2012. ISBN 0956216749
  • Is Diplomacy Dead? Boermans Books, 2014. ISBN 9780956216755
  • When The EU Going Was Good Boermans Books, 2020 ISBN 9780956216786

References

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  • FIELDING, Sir Leslie, Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2013 (Subscription or UK public library membership required)