Kirkpatrick, Ivone (Augustine) (1897–1964)

Irish-born British diplomat and writer. Kirkpatrick specialized in German affairs, acting as interpreter to Neville Chamberlain during the talks leading to the Munich Agreement with Hitler in 1938, and being appointed British high commissioner in Germany after the war (1950–53). He wrote The Inner Circle, 1959, and Mussolini: Study of a Demagogue, 1964.

Born in County Kildare and educated at Downside, Kirkpatrick fought in World War I and then entered the foreign service. In 1933 he became first secretary at the British embassy in Berlin, and when World War II broke out, returned to work in the Ministry of Information and at the BBC. When the Nazi leader Rudolf Hess landed in Scotland in 1941, it was Kirkpatrick who was sent to identify him. He served as chairman of the Independent Television Authority from 1957 to 1962.