Robin Fearn


Sir Patrick Robin Fearn KCMG was a British diplomat who was ambassador to Cuba and Spain.

Career

Patrick Robin Fearn was educated at Ratcliffe College and University College, Oxford. After National Service 1952–54 he worked for Dunlop Rubber in Venezuela and the Caribbean 1957–61, then joined the Diplomatic Service. Between posts at the Foreign Office he served at the embassies in Caracas, Havana, Budapest, as Head of Chancery and Consul at Vientiane 1972–75 and as Head of Chancery and Consul General at Islamabad 1977–79. He was head of the South America department at the FCO 1979–82, culminating in the invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina on 2 April 1982.
After the war Fearn spent 1983 at the Royal College of Defence Studies, writing a thesis on the Antarctic Treaty. He was ambassador to Cuba 1984–86, assistant Under-Secretary of State at the FCO 1986–89, and ambassador to Spain 1989–94. He was appointed CMG after the Falklands war and knighted KCMG during his posting to Spain.
After retiring from the Diplomatic Service, Fearn was director of the Foreign Service Programme at Oxford University and visiting Fellow of University College 1995–99.