Salt, Barbara (1904–1975)

American-born British diplomat who in 1962 became the first woman to receive a British ambassadorial appointment. Name variations: Dame Barbara Salt. Born in Oreville, California, on September 30, 1904; died in London, England, on December 28, 1975; daughter of Reginald John Salt and Maud Fanny (Wigram) Salt; had two sisters; educated at Seaford in Sussex; attended universities in Munich and Cologne; never married.

Was first British woman diplomat to be named counsellor (1955), minister (1960), and ambassador (1962); named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1963).

Although born in 1904 in California, Barbara Salt was British to the core; she was taken by her parents back to England soon after her birth, where her affluent family settled in Oxford. Her father was a banker; her grandfather was Sir Thomas Salt, chair of Lloyds Bank and a member of Parliament for Stafford. She matriculated at Downs School, Seaford, Sussex, and mastered German in universities in Munich and Cologne. Dame Barbara Salt became a pioneer among women in the world diplomatic corps. From 1933 to 1938, she was employed as a secretary, and it was as a secretary that she began her wartime career in 1940, working for the top-secret Special Operations Executive (SOE) for the British government. Soon, her abilities were recognized, and starting in 1942 she was posted as vice-consul to the SOE office in Tangier, Morocco. Although the details of her work here remain shrouded in mystery, she was engaged in underground anti-Axis propaganda and was promoted to head of the Tangier operations. Salt remained in Tangier until 1946, when she returned to London.

In November 1946, Salt began working at the British Foreign Office, as a temporary first secretary in the United Nations Department. Her appointment in the Foreign Office became permanent in 1949. By this time, she had earned "a sterling reputation" from both her superiors and colleagues because of her "critical and analytical mind, her quickness, her practical common sense, and her mature judgement." After serving briefly in Moscow in 1950 as commercial first secretary of the British embassy, she had to return to London because of poor health. In 1951, she was appointed first secretary at the British embassy in Washington, D.C., being promoted to counsellor sur place in 1955. Salt left Washington in 1957 for Tel Aviv, serving there not only as counsellor and consul-general, but also occasionally acting as chargé d'affaires.

She achieved another first when she became the first woman diplomat to be named a minister, as deputy head of the United Kingdom delegation to the 1960 United Nations' disarmament negotiations in Geneva. In 1961, she was transferred to New York as U.K. representative on the Economic and Social Council of the UN. By this time, Salt's health had become precarious. She often suffered from severe migraine headaches but managed to cope.

In April 1962, it was announced that she would be U.K. ambassador to Israel—another historic first for British women. Unfortunately, her health had deteriorated to an alarming degree, and in October of that year she developed thromboses which did not respond to medical treatment. In successive operations, both her legs had to be amputated, and her state of health forced the Foreign Office to cancel her appointment as ambassador to Israel. A brilliant diplomatic career appeared shattered.

Now in a wheelchair, Salt resumed work as soon as she was mobile. The word "indomitable" began to be linked to her name in both press reports and conversations; witnesses commented on her ability to bear pain, disablement, and disappointment. At the time of her retirement in January 1973, she would note, "People keep saying what a tragedy it was that I wasn't able to go to Israel. I don't regard it as such. It's just something you have to live with." Although she was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life, Salt's last decade at the Foreign Office was productive. Between 1963 and 1966, she led U.K. delegations in financial negotiations with Israel, Rumania, and the USSR. As a negotiator, she had few equals. Besides being a perfectionist, she could be formidable in her obstinacy and had a superb grasp of details.

When not engaged in delicate negotiations for the Foreign Office, Salt did historical research on the diplomatic history of World War II, but she also served on Civil Service selection boards, and updated a handbook on etiquette for junior diplomats. From 1967 to the end of her career in 1973, she headed the SOE section of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Salt always made a strong impression on newly arriving members of the diplomatic service. Elegant in appearance, she was a sparkling and witty speaker, and was able to impart at least some of the wisdom she had gained from her years of service. Among the honors she received were an MBE in 1946, a CBE in 1959, and a DBE in 1963. Dame Barbara Salt died at her home in Montagu Square, London, on December 28, 1975.

sources:

Brimelow, Thomas. "Salt, Dame Barbara" in Lord Blake and C.S. Nicholls, eds. The Dictionary of National Biography 1971–1980. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986, pp. 755–756.

"Dame Barbara Salt," in The Times [London]. January 6, 1976, p. 12.

"Dame Barbara Salt: A Brilliant Diplomatic Career," in The Times [London]. December 31, 1975, p. 12.

"Indomitable," in The Times [London]. January 11, 1973, p. 16.

Oxbury, Harold. Great Britons: Twentieth-Century Lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.

John Haag , Associate Professor History, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia