Duff Cooper Biography

Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, GCMG, DSO, PC (22 February 1890 – 1 January 1954), known as Duff Cooper, was a British Conservative Party politician, diplomat and author. In the intense political debates of the late 1930s over appeasement, he first put his trust in the League of Nations, and realised that war with Germany was inevitable. He denounced the Munich agreement of 1938 as meaningless, cowardly, and unworkable, as he resigned from the cabinet. When Winston Churchill became prime minister in May 1940, he named Cooper as Minister of Information. From 1941, he served in numerous diplomatic roles. His most important role was representative to de Gaulle's Free France (1943–44) and ambassador to France from 1944–48.