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Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, (born 27 February 1941), usually known as Paddy Ashdown, is a British politician and former diplomat who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 until August 1999. After serving as a Royal Marine and as an intelligence officer in the UK security services, Ashdown became a Member of Parliament (MP) for Yeovil from 1983 to 2001; later he served as International High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 27 May 2002 to 30 May 2006, following his vigorous lobbying for military action against Yugoslavia in the 1990s. He was the Chair of the Liberal Democrats' 2015 general election team. A polyglot, Ashdown has an interpretership qualification in Mandarin and is fluent in several other languages. Ashdown has received national recognition for his services by appointment as Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in the 2006 New Year Honours and Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2015 New Year Honours.〔(2015 New Year Honours List )〕 ==Early life== Lord Ashdown is the eldest of seven children: he has four brothers and two sisters. He was born in New Delhi, India, on 24 February 1941 to a family of soldiers and colonial administrators who spent their lives in India. His father was a lapsed Catholic, and his mother a Protestant. His mother was a QA nurse.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Burke’s Peerage - The Official Website )〕 Ashdown's father, John William Richard Durham Ashdown (1909–1980), was an Indian Army officer in the 14th Punjab Regiment and the Royal Indian Army Service Corps and in 1944 attained the rank of T/Lt.Col.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Officers of the Indian Army 1939-1945 -- A )〕 During the retreat to Dunkirk in May 1940, John Ashdown ignored an order to abandon the men of the 32nd Animal Transport Company (Mule) under his command, instead leading them to the port and on to one of the last ships to leave, without losing a single man. Although court-martialled for disobeying orders, he was exonerated, and by the end of the War had risen to the rank of colonel. Lord Ashdown was largely brought up in Northern Ireland, where his father bought a farm in 1945〔 near Donaghadee. He was educated first at a local primary school, then as a weekly boarder at Garth House Preparatory School in Bangor〔 and from age 11 at Bedford School in England, where his accent earned him the nickname "Paddy".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Paddy Ashdown」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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