Misplaced Pages

James Cumes

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Australian author, economist, former public servant and diplomat

James Cumes
BornJames William Crawford Cumes
(1922-08-23)23 August 1922
Rosewood, Queensland, Australia
Died21 November 2013(2013-11-21) (aged 91)
Vienna, Austria
NationalityAustralian
Alma materUniversity of Queensland
Occupation(s)Diplomat, economist, author
SpouseHeide Schulte von Bäuminghaus

James William Crawford Cumes (23 August 1922 – 21 November 2013) was an Australian author and economist and a former public servant and diplomat.

Life and career

Cumes was born in Rosewood, Queensland in August 1922. He was educated at Wooloowin State School and Brisbane Grammar School, before matriculating to the University of Queensland.

During World War II, Cumes was in the Australian Army, and fought on the Kokoda Track.

Over the course of his diplomatic career, Cumes was High Commissioner to Nigeria (1965–1967), Ambassador to Belgium (1975–1977), Ambassador to Austria and Hungary (1977–1980), and Ambassador to the Netherlands (1980–1984).

In his 1988 book A Bunch of Amateurs, Cumes critiqued the performance of Australia's foreign ministers, offering an unfavourable assessment of then Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Bill Hayden.

In a review of Cumes' 1990 book How to Become a Millionaire Without Really Working that appeared in The Canberra Times, Peter Bowler praised Cumes for his sunny, cheerful, sensible and interesting take on money-making.

Cumes's wife was Austrian. He moved between houses in Australia, Austria, Monaco and the South of France. He died in Vienna, Austria in November 2013 at the age of 91.

Works

Non-fiction

Fiction

References

  1. Ball, Magdalena (22 March 2003), Interview with James Cumes, author of Haverleigh, archived from the original on 3 June 2016
  2. "James Cumes - On Line Opinion Author". onlineopinion.com.au. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  3. "Four new envoys". The Canberra Times. 9 November 1974. p. 8.
  4. "Envoy". The Canberra Times. 17 October 1977. p. 3.
  5. "Diplomatic posts". The Canberra Times. 26 January 1980. p. 3.
  6. Malone, Paul (24 March 1988). "Hayden attacks ex-diplomat". The Canberra Times. p. 1.
  7. Fuller, Peter; Waterford, Jack (26 March 1988). "Leaders of quality lacking". The Canberra Times. p. 18.
  8. Bowler, Peter (23 June 1990). "Taken in hook, line and sinker by this book's golden cover". The Canberra Times. p. 24.
  9. AustLit: J. W. C. Cumes
  10. Ancestry: James Wiliam Crawford Cumes Crawford grave record
Diplomatic posts
New title
Position established 		Australian Chargé d'affaires in Belgium
1962–1964 		Succeeded byRalph Harryas Ambassador
Preceded byL.E. Phillips Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria
1965–1967 		Succeeded byH.D. White
Preceded byAllan Eastman Australian Ambassador to Belgium
1975–1977 		Succeeded byJames Plimsoll
Preceded byBob Furlonger Australian Ambassador to Austria
Australian Ambassador to Hungary
1977–1980 		Succeeded byDuncan Campbell
Preceded byDavid Fairbairn Australian Ambassador to the Netherlands
1980–1984 		Succeeded byGeoffrey Price
Categories: