Leslie Fielding

Sir Leslie Fielding (29 July 1932 – 4 March 2021) was a British diplomat. 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 Fielding was the son of Percy Fielding and Margaret Calder. 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.

Death Sir Leslie died on 4 March 2021 after a short illness.

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