Leslie Fielding

Sir Leslie Fielding (29 July 1932 – 4 March 2021) was a British diplomat. In the Diplomatic Service, he spent time in the Foreign Office in London before serving as the European Commission Ambassador to Tokyo between 1978 and 1982. He was Director-General for external relations at the European Commission from 1982 to 1987.
Early life.
Fielding was the son of Percy Fielding and Margaret Calder. He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and the School of Oriental and African Studies, where he studied Persian.
Career.
Fielding spent seven years in the Foreign Office in London, as well as serving political assignments in overseas embassies in Tehran, Singapore, Phnom Penh and Paris. He joined the European Commission in 1973 and was the Ambassador to Tokyo between 1978 and 1982. Upon his return from Japan, he became the Director-General for external relations at the European Commission. Fielding was knighted in 1988. He was a non-executive director of IBM (Europe) and a special adviser to Panasonic. Between 1987 and 1992 he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex.
He was a patron of the Society of King Charles the Martyr.
Death.
Sir Leslie died on 4 March 2021 after a short illness.