Norman Brain

Sir Henry Norman Brain ( 19 July 1907– 27 December 2002) was a British diplomat who served as ambassador to Cambodia from 1956 to 1958 and ambassador to Uruguay from 1961 to 1966.

Early life and education

Brain was born on 19 July 1907, the son of B. Brain of Rushall, Staffordshire. He was educated at King Edward’s School, Birmingham, and The Queen’s College, Oxford.

Career

Brain joined the Japan Consular Service in 1930 as a student interpreter. In 1933, he was appointed acting vice-consul at Kobe and in 1935 acting consul and acting consul-general at Osaka. He was then acting consul at Tamsui from 1936 to 1937 before he was transferred to the commercial secretariat at Tokyo. He was transferred back to Tokyo in 1939, and was acting consul at Dairen in 1941 when war broke out. He was interned by the Japanese authorities before he was repatriated to Britain in an exchange of diplomatic staff and was employed as consul at the Foreign Office. from 1956 to 1958 before he returned to the Foreign Office as assistant under secretary of state. His final posting was as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Montevideo, Uruguay, from 1961 to 1966 when he retired. and promoted to Knight Commander (KBE) in the 1963 New Year Honours. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1953 Coronation Honours.