4. November 2025 19:00
Robert Leigh Turner CMG
Is a diplomat’s life really as glamorous as a royal visit, or as dramatic as a coup d’état in Turkey?
Leigh Turner is a former British ambassador who led posts in Ukraine, Turkey and Austria. In a witty globe-trotting adventure through one of the most intriguing career a person can have, Leigh will talk about his interactions with royalty of both the aristocratic and celebrity kinds, and with brilliant and extraordinary people, and the lessons we all can draw from this – whether aspiring diplomats or non-diplomats. Based on his book “Lessons in Diplomacy” (Bristol University Press, September 2024) Leigh will do a deep dive into key lessons such as “How to survive a crisis”, “How to handle politicians”, “How to know people”, and “How to grapple with a legacy of colonialism”. Have you ever wondered what diplomats and ambassadors really do, or how to become one? Leigh Turner will be happy to explain. Leigh Turner is a writer based in London. He was UK Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna from September 2016 to September 2021. Leigh’s previous roles were as HM Consul General Istanbul and Director General for Trade and Investment Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus, HM Ambassador in Kyiv Ukraine, Director of Overseas Territories in London, responsible for territories including St.Helena, the Falklands and Bermuda, and Counsellor (EU and Economic) at the British Embassy in Bonn and Berlin. Leigh grew up in Nigeria, Exeter and Lesotho, before education in Swaziland, Manchester and Cambridge. He draws on his 42-year diplomatic career in his September 2024 book “Lessons in Diplomacy: Politics, Power and Parties” (first published in German in 2023 “Wie Diplomatie die Welt erklärt”). He is the author of three thrillers, including “Blood Summit”, set in Berlin, and a collection od feminist black comedies “Seven Hotel Stories”. He is also a former writer for the Financial Times. Leigh has lectured at the Oxford University Diplomatic Studies Programme, King’s College Cambridge, the LSE, UCL, University of York, Vienna University, the Free University Amsterdam and the Danube University Krems and is a Visiting Professor
at Graz University.
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After the talk you are invited to a drink.
4. November 2025 19:00
Robert Leigh Turner CMG
Veranstaltungsort
Goethe-Museum, Schloß Jägerhof
Jacobistr. 2
40211 Düsseldorf
Is a diplomat’s life really as glamorous as a royal visit, or as dramatic as a coup d’état in Turkey?
Leigh Turner is a former British ambassador who led posts in Ukraine, Turkey and Austria. In a witty globe-trotting adventure through one of the most intriguing career a person can have, Leigh will talk about his interactions with royalty of both the aristocratic and celebrity kinds, and with brilliant and extraordinary people, and the lessons we all can draw from this – whether aspiring diplomats or non-diplomats. Based on his book “Lessons in Diplomacy” (Bristol University Press, September 2024) Leigh will do a deep dive into key lessons such as “How to survive a crisis”, “How to handle politicians”, “How to know people”, and “How to grapple with a legacy of colonialism”. Have you ever wondered what diplomats and ambassadors really do, or how to become one? Leigh Turner will be happy to explain. Leigh Turner is a writer based in London. He was UK Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna from September 2016 to September 2021. Leigh’s previous roles were as HM Consul General Istanbul and Director General for Trade and Investment Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus, HM Ambassador in Kyiv Ukraine, Director of Overseas Territories in London, responsible for territories including St.Helena, the Falklands and Bermuda, and Counsellor (EU and Economic) at the British Embassy in Bonn and Berlin. Leigh grew up in Nigeria, Exeter and Lesotho, before education in Swaziland, Manchester and Cambridge. He draws on his 42-year diplomatic career in his September 2024 book “Lessons in Diplomacy: Politics, Power and Parties” (first published in German in 2023 “Wie Diplomatie die Welt erklärt”). He is the author of three thrillers, including “Blood Summit”, set in Berlin, and a collection od feminist black comedies “Seven Hotel Stories”. He is also a former writer for the Financial Times. Leigh has lectured at the Oxford University Diplomatic Studies Programme, King’s College Cambridge, the LSE, UCL, University of York, Vienna University, the Free University Amsterdam and the Danube University Krems and is a Visiting Professor
at Graz University.
*********
After the talk you are invited to a drink.