Robin Fearn

Sir Patrick Robin Fearn KCMG (5 September 1934 – 26 August 2006) was a British diplomat who was ambassador to Cuba and Spain.

Career

Patrick Robin Fearn was educated at Ratcliffe College and University College, Oxford. After National Service 1952–54 he worked for Dunlop Rubber in Venezuela and the Caribbean 1957–61, then joined the Diplomatic Service. Between posts at the Foreign Office (later the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, FCO) he served at the embassies in Caracas, Havana, Budapest, as Head of Chancery and Consul at Vientiane 1972–75^[1] and as Head of Chancery and Consul General at Islamabad 1977–79.^[2] He was head of the South America department at the FCO 1979–82, culminating in the invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina on 2 April 1982.

From the moment of the invasion, it fell to Fearn to organise and animate - indeed, almost to invent - the emergency unit which had to manage intra-Whitehall coordination as well as to seek international support for the UK's response. He worked almost without pause for weeks on end, but remained calm, reassuring and approachable, encouraging his team by his own example as they shouldered a huge burden of work. — Obituary, The Guardian

After the war Fearn spent 1983 at the Royal College of Defence Studies, writing a thesis on the Antarctic Treaty. He was ambassador to Cuba 1984–86, assistant Under-Secretary of State (Americas) at the FCO 1986–89, and ambassador to Spain 1989–94. He was appointed CMG after the Falkands war^[3] and knighted KCMG during his posting to Spain.^[4]

After retiring from the Diplomatic Service, Fearn was director of the Foreign Service Programme at Oxford University and visiting Fellow of University College 1995–99.^[5]

References

• FEARN, Sir (Patrick) Robin, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007
• Sir Robin Fearn (obituary), The Guardian, London, 6 October 2006
• Sir Robin Fearn (obituary), The Telegraph, London, 2 October 2006

1. The London Gazette, 11 January 1973
2. The London Gazette, 15 March 1977
3. Supplement to the London Gazette, 11 June 1983
4. Supplement to the London Gazette, 31 December 1990
5. About the Oxford University Foreign Service Programme, Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford