Patrick Howard Caines Eyers CMG, LVO (4 September 1933 – 22 December 2023) was a British diplomat who, among other things, was the last ambassador to the German Democratic Republic in 1990.
Professional activity
Eyers entered the diplomatic service in 1959. Between 1977 and 1981, he worked in Bonn as Counselor at the British embassy in the Federal Republic of Germany.
He spent his last eight years working as a British ambassador. First, from 1985 to 1987, he succeeded Nicholas Bayne in Zaire (also accredited in the Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi) until he was replaced by Robert Cormack. In 1987, Eyers took over from Alan Munro as ambassador to Algeria, after which he was succeeded by Christopher Battiscombe. After that, Eyers became the last British ambassador to the German Democratic Republic in 1990, succeeding Nigel Broomfield. His last dispatch from East Berlin, "farewell to an unloved country", dated 2 October 1990, is kept in the British National Archives. In 1991, he replaced Anthony Reeve as ambassador to Jordan and held this office until his retirement in 1993. Peter Hinchcliffe succeeded him.
Personal life and death
Eyers was born in Bristol on 4 September 1933. He was married from 1960 to the Austrian Jutta Lindheide (* 1935), called Heidi, née Rüsch, a great-granddaughter of the Dornbirn businessman Alfred Rüsch, and had three children.
Eyers died on 22 December 2023, at the age of 90.
References
- Archives, The National (August 28, 2019). "The National Archives - Foreign and Commonwealth Office files from 1990: 'United Germany'". The National Archives blog.
- Office, Great Britain Foreign (April 17, 1964). "The Foreign Office List and Diplomatic and Consular Year Book for ..." Harrison and Sons – via Google Books.
- Quinn, Ben (August 28, 2019). "Thatcher archives: diplomats warned of 'damaging' stance on Germany". The Guardian.
- Archives, The National (August 28, 2019). "The National Archives - Foreign and Commonwealth Office files from 1990: 'United Germany'". The National Archives blog.
- Mackie, Colin. "A DIRECTORY OF BRITISH DIPLOMATS" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-05-20.
- "The Foreign Office List and Diplomatic and Consular Year Book for". 1964.
- In: lexikon.dornbirn.at (Dornbirner Familienbuch). Stadtarchiv Dornbirn
- "Eyers, Patrick Howard Caines". WHO WAS WHO 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
- 1933 births
- 2023 deaths
- Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order
- Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to East Germany
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Jordan
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Algeria
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Rwanda
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Burundi
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Republic of the Congo
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni