John Robert Hilton

John Robert Hilton, CMG (5 January 1908 – 20 April 1994) was a British academic, architect and intelligence officer. From 1934 to 1936, he served as the first Director of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus. He then worked as an architect, served in the British Army during the Second World War, and served as a career intelligence officer with MI6 until he retired.

Early life and education Hilton was born on 5 January 1908 in Northwood, Middlesex, England, to Oscar and Louisa Hilton; his father was a medical doctor. He was educated at Marlborough College, then an all-boys private boarding school: he was there at the same time as Anthony Blunt, the future art historian and spy for the Soviet Union. He had also been offered the post of lecturer in philosophy at the University of Birmingham, but he chose to go to Cyprus instead.

In 1936 he returned to England, He relinquished his army commission on 9 April 1947, and was granted the honorary rank of captain.

In 1943, Hilton was transferred to the Foreign Office.

Personal life In 1933 he married Margaret Stephens, together they have one son and two daughters, one which predeceased him and Jennifer Hilton. His brother is artist Roger Hilton.

He was a Member of the Council of the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, in the years 1977-81 and 1983–94, and again as President 1985-91.

Hilton died on 20 April 1994 in Box, Wiltshire, England.

Publications

Repairs to Ancient Monuments, Reports of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 1935 (1936), 1. Mind and Analysis, memoir on Louis MacNeice, 1965 A Camel Load of Woad, unpublished memoir