Anthony Eden

Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon KG MC PC (12 June 1897–14 January 1977) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He was better known throughout his time in office as Sir Anthony Eden. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford.

Eden was one of the best-known politicians of his generation. He was appointed Foreign Secretary in 1935 by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, and resigned in 1938 in protest at Chamberlain's appeasement of Adolf Hitler. He was Churchill's Foreign Secretary during World War II, and again in 19511955.

He had an operation to remove gallstones in 1953. The operation went wrong, and his health was ruined. He became Prime Minister in 1955 when Winston Churchill retired. He resigned as Prime Minister in 1957, and Harold Macmillan replaced him. The Suez Crisis of 1956 was a critical period. This and his health led up to his resignation as Prime Minister. Eden died of liver cancer, aged 79. His widow, Clarissa Eden, Countess of Avon, was born in 1920 and died in 2021. She was a niece of Winston Churchill.

Eden's life can be described in two halves. The first half, in the 1930s and in wartime, was brilliant. But he is often ranked among the least successful British Prime Ministers of the 20th century. Two broadly sympathetic biographies (in 1986 and 2003) have gone some way to redressing the balance of opinion. D.R. Thorpe says the Suez Crisis "was a truly tragic end to his premiership, and one that came to assume a disproportionate importance in any assessment of his career".

Biography 
Born into an aristocratic family.

He volunteered for the British army at the beginning of the First World War, participated in the fighting in France.

In 1919—1922 he was a student at the Faculty of Oriental Languages at Oxford, graduating with honors.

From 1945 to 1973 he served as rector of the University of Birmingham.

In 1961, he received the title of count.

Eden had three sons. The elder and middle sons died before him. His Earl of Avon title was inherited by the younger son, Nicholas. When Nicholas died, the title became extinct.

Political career 
Member of the House of Commons from 1923 to 1957.

From 1935 to 1938 (Baldwin's cabinet) Minister of Foreign Affairs. He resigned as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chamberlain's cabinet on February 20, 1938, due to disagreement with the Prime Minister's policy of "appeasement" towards Italy and Germany.

He served as Foreign Minister in Churchill's military government (1940—1945), was considered Churchill's successor, but distinguished himself primarily as Foreign Minister in the war. Leader of the House of Commons from 1942 to 1945.

After Labor's election victory in July 1945, he was Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

From 1951 to 1955 Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister.

After Churchill's resignation in 1955, he was appointed prime minister. His premiership turned out to be short-lived and unsuccessful, both from a foreign policy point of view (the Suez crisis of 1956, which ended catastrophically for Great Britain), and from a domestic political point of view (he had to resign after mass protests by the population and cede leadership in the party to Macmillan).

References 

1897 births
1977 deaths
Alumni of the University of Oxford
British military personnel of World War I
British people of World War II
Cancer deaths in England
Deaths from liver cancer
Deputy Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom
English Anglicans
Conservative Party (UK) MPs
Members of the British House of Commons for English constituencies
Leaders of the Conservative Party (UK)
Members of the House of Lords
People educated at Eton College
People from County Durham
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Secretaries of State of the United Kingdom
UK MPs 1929–1931
UK MPs 1931–1935
UK MPs 1935–1945
UK MPs 1945–1950
UK MPs 1950–1951
UK MPs 1951–1955
UK MPs 1955–1959
United Kingdom Earls
World War II political leaders