Robert Gilbert Vansittart, 1st Baron Vansittart, (25 June 1881 – 14 February 1957), known as Sir Robert Vansittart between 1929 and 1941, was a senior British diplomat in the period before and during the Second World War. He was Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister from 1928 to 1930 and Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office from 1930 to 1938 and later served as Chief Diplomatic Adviser to the British Government. He is best remembered for his opposition to appeasement and his strong stance against Germany during and after the Second World War. Vansittart was also a published poet, novelist and playwright. Background and education Vansittart was born at Wilton House, Farnham, Surrey, the eldest of the three sons of Robert Arnold Vansittart, of Foots Cray Place, Kent, a Captain in the 7th Dragoon Guards, by his wife Susan Alice Blane, third daughter of Gilbert James Blane, landowner, of Foliejon Park, Berkshire. His younger brother Guy Nicholas (Nick) Vansittart had a successful career with General Motors before and after the war. He was recruited into "Z" Network during the 1930s and served in Special Operations Executive during World War II. Cognatically (patrilineally) the family is of Dutch descent; ancestors included Arthur Vansittart, Member of Parliament (MP) for Windsor, and the Colonel of the same name, MP for Berkshire. Henry Vansittart, Robert Vansittart and Lord Bexley were in the other branches. A female-line ancestor was Lord Auckland. Vansittart was also a second cousin of T. E. Lawrence (better known as Lawrence of Arabia). Widely nicknamed Van, he was educated at St Neot's Preparatory School and Eton College, where he was a member of the exclusive Eton Society (also called Pop) and Captain of the Oppidans. He then travelled in Europe for two years to improve his French and German, where his experiences and study of the political systems prevailing may have contributed to his Germanophobia and Francophilia. Diplomatic career Vansittart entered the Foreign Office in 1902, starting as a clerk in the Eastern Department, where he was a specialist on Aegean Islands affairs. He was an attaché at the British Embassy in Paris between 1903 and 1905, when he became Third Secretary. He then served at the embassies in Tehran between 1907 and 1909 and Cairo between 1909 and 1911. From 1911, he was attached to the Foreign Office. During the First World War he was joint head of the