Jeffrey Charles Petersen

Sir Jeffrey Charles Petersen (20 July 1920 - 14 October 2006) was a British diplomat. He served as Ambassador to Sweden, Romania and South Korea.

Early life Petersen was born in London in 1920. His school career was considered "undistinguished" and he was not considered "university material". Following time in the Royal Naval Reserve he joined the Royal Navy at the beginning of World War II, where he served on HMS Snapdragon on convoy duty in the North Atlantic, and as a Liaison Officer in Cairo. During the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation he was responsible for evacuating the British Embassy in Jakarta, which was later burned by rioters. He was then appointed British Ambassador to Romania in 1975. and Ambassador to Sweden in 1977, retiring in 1980. In these roles he continued to promote commercial interests, including British technology for the South Korean car industry, British BAC One-Eleven aircraft for the Romanian flag carrier TAROM and encouragement of Swedish inward investment.

Personal life and death

Petersen was married, firstly, to Catherine (Kate) Bayly, divorcing in 1959, and then to Karin Hayward in 1961. He had two children from his first marriage and four from his second.

Honours

Petersen was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1968 Birthday Honours while serving as Commercial Counsellor in the British Embassy in Athens, and promoted to Knight Commander of the Order (KCMG) in the 1978 Birthday Honours.