Wright, Denis (Arthur Hepworth) 1911–2005

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born March 23, 1911, in Kingston-upon-Thames, England; died May 18, 2005. Diplomat and author. Wright was a British diplomat who served in several international posts, including as ambassador to Ethiopia and Iran. He was educated at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he earned a B.A. in 1935, later returning to complete a master's degree in 1961. Wright's undergraduate studies were in history, but his first job was in advertising with the tobacco company Gallaher & Co. While Wright was in Romania on business in 1939, World War II erupted, and he was called upon by the British Embassy to serve as vice-consul of economic warfare in Constanta. Two years later, he was assigned to work for the British Consulate in Turkey. After the war, his experience led him to join the British Foreign Service. He worked at the Belgrade embassy for two years, and then was sent to Chicago, where he gained expertise in trade relations. After returning to London for two years, his next mission abroad was to Iran, where he was charge d'affaires for a year. Other posts included counselor at the Tehran embassy for a year and assistant undersecretary during the late 1950s. In 1959, Wright was sent to Ethiopia, where he was key in convincing Emperor Haile Selassie to derail a trip abroad and prevent a violent coup attempt in his homeland. Having grown fond of the people and country of Iran, Wright was pleased to be named ambassador in 1963, and for the next eight years he fostered friendly relations with the shah. He went back to England in 1971, and retired from the Foreign Office in 1974. Having become an expert on the Iranian people, Wright, a fluent Farsi speaker, was a founder of the Iran Society and president of the British Institute of Persian Studies. He was also an honorary fellow of St. Edmund Hall and St. Antony's, Oxford, which became a new home to him as he wrote several books about Iran, including The English amongst the Persians during the Qajar Period, 1787–1921 (1977; second edition, 2001) and The Persians amongst the English: Episodes in Anglo-Persian History (1985). More recently his essays were collected in Britain and Iran, 1790–1980 (2003). Named a companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1954, he was later named knight commander in 1961, and grand knight cross in 1971. In 1990, Wright was further honored as a recipient of the Sir Percy Sykes Memorial Medal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Guardian (Manchester, England), May 23, 2005, p. 21.

Independent (London, England), June 10, 2005, p. 44.

Times (London, England), June 3, 2005, p. 68.