Alyson Bailes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alyson Bailes
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Bailes at the University of Iceland in 2013
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| British Ambassador to Finland | |
| In office November 2000 – June 2002 |
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| Preceded by | Gavin Hewitt |
| Succeeded by | Matthew Kirk |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Alyson Judith Kirtley Bailes
5 April 1949 Withington, Manchester |
| Died | 29 April 2016 (aged 67) Melrose, Scotland |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Political party | None |
| Education | The Belvedere Academy |
| Alma mater | Somerville College, Oxford |
Alyson Judith Kirtley Bailes (born April 6, 1949, died April 29, 2016) was an amazing British woman who worked in many important roles. She was a diplomat, which means she represented her country, the United Kingdom, in other countries. She was also a political scientist, studying how governments work, and an academic, teaching at universities. People sometimes called her a "polymath" because she was skilled in many different areas.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Alyson Bailes was born on April 6, 1949, in Withington, a part of Manchester, England. She was the oldest of three children. Both of her parents, Barbara and John Lloyd Bailes, were teachers.
She went to The Belvedere School. She was a very bright student and earned a special scholarship to attend Somerville College, Oxford, one of the famous colleges at University of Oxford. While studying at Oxford, she even represented her college on a popular TV quiz show called University Challenge. In 1969, she earned a top degree in Modern History. She later received her Master of Arts degree in 1971.
A Career in Diplomacy
Alyson Bailes began her career in 1969 at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. This is the part of the British government that handles relationships with other countries. Her first job was helping with Western European affairs.
In 1970, she got her first job working abroad. She moved to Budapest, Hungary, to work at the British Embassy. From 1974 to 1976, she worked with NATO, which is a group of countries that work together for defense.
Language Skills
Alyson Bailes was very good at languages. She could speak and read French, Hungarian, German, Mandarin Chinese, Norwegian, Finnish, and Swedish. She said she could use these languages "operationally," meaning she could work in them. She could also read Danish, Icelandic, Faroese, and Dutch.
Working with Other Countries
In 1979, Alyson Bailes worked on a special project for the European Community (EC). She helped a group called the "Committee of Wise Men" give advice on how the EC could work better. This was before Greece joined the group.
Later in 1979, she moved to the Ministry of Defence. Here, she led a team that looked at defense issues outside of the NATO area. In 1981, she worked at the British Embassy in Bonn, Germany, focusing on defense.
From 1987 to 1989, she worked at the British Embassy in Beijing, China. She was the Deputy Head of Mission there. She also helped with talks between Britain and China about the future of Hong Kong.
International Roles
After a break to do research in London, Alyson Bailes went to Oslo, Norway, in 1990. She was the Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy there. In 1994, she became the Head of the Security Policy Department back in London.
She took another break from her diplomatic work to join the EastWest Institute in New York. She worked there from 1996 to 1997, focusing on European security. From 1997 to 2000, she was the Political Director for the Western European Union in Brussels, Belgium. This organization worked on defense and security in Europe.
Ambassador to Finland
In November 2000, Alyson Bailes became the British Ambassador to Finland. This meant she was the UK's top representative in Finland. She held this important role until June 2002. After this, she left the British Diplomatic Service to work at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). SIPRI is a famous institute that studies peace and conflict.
Academic Life
From 2007 to 2015, Alyson Bailes was a professor at the University of Iceland. She also taught as a visiting professor at the College of Europe from 2010 to 2015.
She wrote many articles and book chapters about European defense, security, and arms control. Outside of her work, she loved music, traveling, and studying nature. She was also a big fan of the author Dorothy Dunnett and even wrote a travel guide to Iceland for the Dorothy Dunnett Society.
Death
Alyson Bailes passed away from cancer on April 29, 2016, at the age of 67. She died at the Borders General Hospital in Melrose, Scotland.
Works
- "Europe's Defense Challenge: Reinventing the Atlantic Alliance" (January-February 1997)
- "Iceland: The Dorothy Dunnett Guide" (September 2013)
