John Watkins (Canadian diplomat)
- John Watkins (Canadian diplomat)
John Watkins (1902 – 12 October 1964) was an educator and Canadian Ambassador to the USSR (1954–1956). Born at Norval Station, Ontario, Watkins was a Scandinavian specialist at the University of Manitoba, before joining the Department of External Affairs in 1946.
First posted to the USSR in 1948, Watkins learned Russian and developed a wide circle of Russian friends. He was allowed to travel to places barred to other foreigners. In 1955, he organized an historic meeting between Canadian External Affairs Minister Lester B. Pearson and Communist Party chief Nikita Khrushchev.
In 1964, Watkins was secretly detained in a hotel in Montreal, Quebec by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency who were concerned that he was an agent of influence. Several days into the interrogation, he died. The official obituary claimed that he suffered a heart attack in the company of friends during a farewell supper celebrating his illustrious career.
The events of his death were exposed by Ian Adams in 1980. The Parti Québécois government swiftly ordered an inquest into Watkins’ death. The RCMP refused to hand over the full report, claiming it would damage national security, but finally admitted Watkins had died under police interrogation in the Montreal hotel room, that he had not given into Soviet blackmailing tactics and was not a traitor.
Years later Adams wrote "Agent of Influence" (1999), a detailed book that suggests the CIA was out to get Pearson (who had become Prime Minister), and tried to get Watkins to implicate him. The book was made into a movie for television, also titled "Agent of Influence", in 2002.
Watkins and a friend, fellow diplomat Herbert Norman, served to inspire "Harry Raymond", the character at the centre of "The Stillborn Lover" (1995), a play by Timothy Findley.
References
*Adams, Ian. "Agent of Influence: A True Story." Toronto: General, 1999.
*Watkins, John. "Moscow Dispatches: Inside Cold War Russia." Toronto: Lorimer, 1987. ISBN 1550280287
External links
*
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
John Watkins — may refer to:* John Watkins (Australian politician), former Deputy Premier of New South Wales, Australia * John Watkins (Canadian diplomat), Canadian diplomat and ambassador * John Watkins (cricketer), cricketer from Australia *John Watkins… … Wikipedia
Watkins (surname) — Watkins is an English and Welsh surname derived as a patronymic from Watkin, in turn a diminutive of the name Watt (also Wat), a popular Middle English given name itself derived as a pet form of the name Walter. It may refer to: *Aaron S. Watkins … Wikipedia
1989 — This article is about the year 1989. Millennium: 2nd millennium Centuries: 19th century – 20th century – 21st century Decades: 1950s 1960s 1970s – 1980s – 1990s … Wikipedia
December 7 — December 7th redirects here. For the film, see December 7th (film). << December 2011 >> Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa … Wikipedia
April 26 — Events*1467 The miraculous image in Our Lady of Good Counsel appear in Genazzano, Italy. *1478 The Pazzi attack Lorenzo de Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in the Duomo of Florence. *1607 English colonists of the Jamestown… … Wikipedia
Ian Adams — (born 1937) is a Canadian author of fiction and non fiction novels. Originally a journalist, he is now best known for his writing: his most successful novel to date is Agent of Influence which has also been made into a film. He currently lives in … Wikipedia
April 25 — It is also the latest possible day that Easter can occur, next occurring in 2038.Events*1607 Eighty Years War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar. *1707 The Habsburg army is defeated by Bourbon army at Almansa… … Wikipedia
List of political families — This is a partial listing of prominent political families.Royal families are not included, unless certain later descendants have played political roles in a republican structure (e.g. Cakobau Family of Fiji). See also Family… … Wikipedia
literature — /lit euhr euh cheuhr, choor , li treuh /, n. 1. writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. 2.… … Universalium
Deaths in October 2011 — Contents 1 October 2011 1.1 31 1.2 30 1.3 29 … Wikipedia
