Michael Scott Weir

Sir Michael Scott Weir, KCMG (28 January 1925 – 22 June 2006) was a British diplomat. Born in Dunfermline, Fife, he went on a state scholarship to study oriental languages at the School of Oriental and African Studies in 1942. A year later he joined the Royal Air Force, which sent him to London University to learn Persian. He was then posted as an intelligence officer, including to Burma and Iraq. After demobilisation in 1947, he went to Balliol College, Oxford. He joined the Foreign Service in 1950, and quickly became one of its leading Arabists. His early postings included Bahrain, Doha and Sharjah. Weir's career culminated with his appointment as the United Kingdom's ambassador to Egypt (1979–1985). He retired from the Foreign Service in 1985, but remained active; he served as President of the Egypt Exploration Society (1988–2006), Chairman of the British Egyptian Society (1990–2006) and Director of the 21st Century Trust (1990–2000). He died in London on 22 June 2006. He was the father of writer and comedian Arabella Weir.