John Coulson (diplomat)

Sir John Eltringham Coulson KCMG (1909–1997) was a British diplomat who was ambassador to Sweden and secretary-general of EFTA.

Coulson was born 13 September 1909. He was educated at Rugby School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He joined the Diplomatic Service in 1932.^[1] He served at Bucharest, Paris, New York and Washington, DC, before being appointed Ambassador to Sweden 1960–1963.^[2] He was then Deputy Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office 1963–1965, Chief of Administration of HM Diplomatic Service briefly from January to September 1965, and Secretary-General of the European Free Trade Association 1965–1972. He died 15 November 1997.

Honours

John Coulson was appointed CMG in the King's Birthday Honours of 1946^[3] and knighted KCMG in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1957.^[4] The Swedish government made him a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star.

References

• COULSON, Sir John Eltringham, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2012

1. "No. 33890". The London Gazette. 9 December 1932. p. 7841.
2. "No. 42087". The London Gazette. 5 July 1960. p. 4730.
3. "No. 37598". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1946. p. 2761.
4. "No. 41089". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1957. p. 3371.

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Sir Robert Hankey	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Stockholm 1960–1963	Succeeded by Sir Moore Crosthwaite
Preceded by Frank Figgures	Secretary-General of the European Free Trade Association 1965–1972	Succeeded by Bengt Rabaeus