Harold Forsyth | |
Order: | 25th |
Office: | Permanent Representative of Peru to the Organization of American States |
Term Start: | 3 August 2021 |
Term End: | 7 December 2022 |
President: | Pedro Castillo |
Predecessor: | Hugo de Zela Martínez |
Successor: | Gustavo Adrianzén (2023) |
Office2: | Ambassador of Peru to the United States |
Term Start2: | 3 August 2011 |
Term End2: | January 2015 |
Predecessor2: | Luis Valdivieso Montano |
Successor2: | Luis Miguel Castilla |
Office3: | Deputy Minister-Secretary General of Foreign Relations |
President3: | Alejandro Toledo |
Primeminister3: | Pedro Pablo Kuczynski |
Minister3: | Óscar Maúrtua |
Term Start3: | 16 March 2006 |
Term End3: | 28 July 2006 |
Predecessor3: | Javier Gonzales Terrones |
Successor3: | Gonzalo Gutiérrez Reinel |
Office4: | Member of Congress |
Term Start4: | 26 July 1995 |
Term End4: | 26 July 2000 |
Constituency4: | National |
Birth Name: | Harold Winston Forsyth Mejía |
Birth Date: | 1951 5, df=yes |
Birth Place: | Huanta, Ayacucho, Peru |
Party: | Independent (2000–present) |
Otherparty: |
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Spouse: | María Verónica Sommer Mayer |
Children: | 3 |
Parents: |
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Alma Mater: | Pontifical Catholic University of Peru |
Occupation: | Politician |
Profession: | Diplomat |
Harold Winston Forsyth Mejía (born 27 May 1951) is a Peruvian diplomat and former politician who has served as Peru's ambassador to the United States, Italy, Colombia, the People's Republic of China and Japan. From 1995 until 2000, he sat for one term in the Congress of the Republic of Peru.
Harold Forsyth was born to Willy Forsyth and Lucciola Mejia de Forsyth in 1951.[1] He graduated from the Champagnat School in Lima, Peru and received a bachelor's degree in journalism at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Forsyth later earned a graduate certificate at the Diplomatic Academy of Peru.
In his early career, Forsyth held a variety of diplomatic postings to Chile, Venezuela, Canada, and Germany, and was seconded as an international observer to elections monitoring missions in Colombia, Mexico, and Guatemala.[2]
Forsyth was compelled to resign from the Peruvian foreign service by Alberto Fujimori and, in the 1995 election, he successfully stood for election to Congress, holding his seat for a single, five-year term under the Union for Peru.[1] During this period he also hosted the program "Convocatoria" on CPN Radio.
Later returning to the foreign service, Forsyth served as Peruvian ambassador to Colombia from 2001 to 2004, as ambassador to Italy from 2004 to 2006, as ambassador to China from 2009 to 2011, as ambassador to the United States from 2011 to 2014, and, from 2017 to 2021, as ambassador to Japan.[1] [2] [3] [4] Between his postings to Italy and China, Forsyth returned to Peru, where he served as deputy foreign minister.[1]
Forsyth is married and has three children, including footballer-politician George Forsyth.[5] Forsyth's wife, María Verónica, is a former Miss Chile.[6]