bout de papier, Vol. 29, No. 3 (2016), p. 32
Jim Langley’s long life and outstanding career were honoured at a memorial reception in Ottawa on January 9, 2016. Jim was born into the Foreign Service. His father, James A. Langley, was a Trade Commissioner. Jim spent his boyhood in Japan, where his father was posted, first to Kobe and later to Tokyo when the Canadian Legation was established there as one of Canada’s first full-fledged diplomatic missions. Jim was schooled partly in Japan, partly in Canada and partly in England. He served with the British army for five years during the Second World War in Europe and in India and retired in 1946 with the rank of Captain. He then attended Oxford University, taking a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics with first class honours in 1949, followed by a Master’s degree from the University of Toronto in 1950. He joined the Foreign Service in the same year.
By inheritance and education, Jim was a natural choice to serve in the field of economic relations. There he made a distinguished career in positions of increasing responsibility. After serving as a junior officer in Belgium and Laos, he was posted to Washington as Economic Counsellor. Subsequently, in 1961, he was appointed Canada’s first full Permanent Representative to the OECD; in 1965 Assistant Under-Secretary for Economic Affairs; in 1970 Ambassador to Belgium and the EEC; and then Canada’s first full-time Ambassador to the European Communities from 1973-75. Finally he served as Ambassador to Mexico and Guatemala from 1975 to 1979.
In 1979, Jim resigned from the Foreign Service, after almost thirty years, to pursue a second career in archaeology. His interest in this field had already been aroused during his years in Belgium, where he had begun to undertake field trips of exploration and to collect artifacts – a collection which over the years came to risk turning his home into a museum. But it was his service in Mexico and Guatemala which fired his enthusiasm to enrol in the Institute of Archaeology of London University and pursue doctoral studies in Meso-American archaeology. This field became his special interest for the next thirty years. In that time, he focused particularly on the great monuments of Teotihuacan, near Mexico City, producing a series of scholarly papers that established his reputation as a leading researcher. As well he co-founded the Canadian Society for Meso-American studies, and served as its Vice President. He taught in Mexico, where he was external Ph.D tutor in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Mexico; in Canada, where he served as a trustee of the Canadian Mediterranean Institute; and in England where he was Research Associate of the Institute of Archaeology of London University. He received numerous honours and awards for his work. In 2003, in recognition of his remarkable career as diplomat and archaeologist, he was appointed to the Order of Canada.
Jim Langley was one of that admirable generation of men and women who, after years of service in war, returned to serve Canada in peace. They helped create for their country a reputation in international affairs in which the whole nation took pride. As soldier and diplomat, archaeologist and scholar, he deserves to be remembered. Those of us who were fortunate to be his colleagues and friends keep an affectionate memory of his capacity for hard work, his good humour, his enthusiasm, and the intellectual curiosity that marked him to the end of his days. He leaves his wife, Ling, a daughter, Vanessa and a son who, like his father and grandfather, bears the name James Langley.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 29, No. 3 (2016), p. 32. Read the rest of this issue →
