Baron Robert Gilbert Vansittart Vansittart

Born in Surrey in 1881, Baron Robert Gilbert Vansittart built a long career in the British diplomatic service after entering the Foreign Office in the early 20th century. He served in several overseas posts and rose to become Principal Private Secretary to the prime minister, then Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office from 1930 to 1938.

He is best remembered for his strong views on European politics in the years leading up to the Second World War. As chief diplomatic adviser at a crucial moment, he warned early and forcefully about the threat from Germany, and later continued to influence wartime policy as the government's Chief Diplomatic Adviser.

Vansittart was also an author as well as a statesman. Britannica notes that he wrote poetry, novels, and political works, and his career left him closely associated with the fierce foreign-policy debates of the 1930s and 1940s.