Thomas Haining
Thomas Nivison Haining | |
|---|---|
| British Ambassador to the Mongolian People's Republic | |
| In office 1979–1982 | |
| Foreign Service | |
| In office 1952–1982 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 March 1927 |
| Died | 17 July 2005 (age 78) |
| Alma mater | |
| Awards | Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George |
Thomas Nivison Haining CMG (15 March 1927 – 17 July 2005), was a British diplomat. He was ambassador to Mongolia from 1979 to 1982.[1]
Early life, family and education
Haining was educated at University of Edinburgh and University of Göttingen.[1]
Career
In 1952, he entered the British government's Foreign Service, later transferring to the Diplomatic Service. He saw service in Vienna, Moscow, Rome and New York. In 1968, he was First Secretary (Information) with his wife as part of the UK's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York.[2]
From 1979 to 1982 he was British ambassador to the Mongolian People's Republic. It was a "place that fitted him like a glove".[1] In a comment on the Times obituary for the Rev Canon Eric Staples, Haining recalls that Staples accompanied him "in full canonical dress" on official calls on the Hambo Lama, the abbot of the Gandangchinlig Monastery. In 1992, Haining visited the Gandang again, on the occasion of the enthronement of a new abbot.[3]
After retirement in 1982, Haining settled in Brechin in Angus, Scotland. He became an honorary research associate in history at the University of Aberdeen and honorary president of the Chinese Studies Group.[4][5][6] He wrote about Mongolia and the history of the Mongols in academic journals, reviewed books and discussed modern Mongolia being caught between Russian and Chinese influences.[7][8][9]
In 1991, Blackwell published Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy by Paul Ratchnevsky, which Haining had edited, translated from the German and contributed to.[10] (This had been first published as Činggis-Kahn: sein Leben und Wirken, in 1983.[11]) The Royal Asiatic Society reviewer commented: "The translation is excellent. Mr Haining is to be congratulated on his contribution to what is in many respects an improvement even on Ratchnevsky's splendid work."[12][13][14] Genghis Khan is now published by Wiley-Blackwell.[15]
Honours
- Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (1983)
Personal life
Haining married in 1955 and had a son, Nicholas.[1] His wife, Dorothy Patricia,[1] known as Pat, died at the age of 97 on 11 May 2025.[16]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Tom Haining". The Times. 6 July 2023. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- ^ Permanent Missions to the United Nations. New York. July 1968. p. 163.
- ^ "Lives remembered". The Times. 4 November 2002. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
- ^ "Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy". Wiley.com. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- ^ Haining, Thomas (1986). "The Mongols and religion". Asian Affairs. 17 (1): 19–32. doi:10.1080/03068378608730208. ISSN 0306-8374.
- ^ "Aberdeen Chinese Studies Group" (PDF). abdn.ac.uk. University of Aberdeen. 1991–92. Archived from the original (Newsletter) on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ^ Atwood, Christopher P. (2000). "Review of The Mongol Empire and Its Legacy. Islamic History and Civilization: Studies and Texts". Mongolian Studies. 23: 139–142. ISSN 0190-3667. JSTOR 43193303.
- ^ Haining, Thomas Nivison (1996). "The Yak, the Bear and the Dragon: Uneasy Bedfellows. A Cautionary Tale of Russian and Chinese Influences on Mongolian History". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 6 (1): 69–79. doi:10.1017/S1356186300014784. ISSN 1356-1863. JSTOR 25183121.
- ^ Haining, Thomas Nivison (1998). "Review of Tales of an Old Lama". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 8 (2): 289–290. doi:10.1017/S1356186300010269. ISSN 1356-1863. JSTOR 25183546.
- ^ Barrett, T. H. (23 April 1992). "More famous than Madonna". London Review of Books. Vol. 14, no. 8. ISSN 0260-9592. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ Morgan, D. O. (June 1985). "Paul Ratchnevsky: Činggis-khan: sein Leben und Wirken. (Münchener Ostasiatische Studien, Bd. 32.) x, 207 pp. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH, 1983. DM 42". Bulletin of SOAS. 48 (2): 389. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00033875. ISSN 1474-0699.
- ^ Khazanov, Anatoly M. (1993). "Review of Genghis Khan. His Life and Legacy". Mongolian Studies. 16: 106–109. ISSN 0190-3667. JSTOR 43194519.
- ^ Hanak, Walter K. "Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy. Paul Ratchnevsky, Thomas Nivison Haining". Speculum. 70 (2): 416–417. doi:10.2307/2864944. ISSN 0038-7134. JSTOR 2864944.
- ^ Jackson, Peter (1993). "Genghis Khan: his life and legacy. By Paul Ratchnevsky, translated and edited by Thomas Nivison Haining. pp. xvii, 313. 25 illus., map. Oxford and Cambridge, Mass., Blackwell, 1991. £25.00". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 3 (3): 453–454. doi:10.1017/S1356186300014292. ISSN 1474-0591.
- ^ "Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy". Wiley.com. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
- ^ "HAINING - Deaths". Dundee Courier. 21 May 2025. Retrieved 23 March 2026 – via myfamilyannouncements.co.uk.