John McMillan

John Mill McMillan (December 1914 – 25 November 1999) was a former Australian public servant and diplomat. During his career, he held several prominent diplomatic posts, including Australian Ambassador to Israel (1960–1963); Brazil (1965–1970); Turkey (1973–1976); and the Holy See (1974–1978) and High Commissioner to Ghana (1970–1973) and Malta (1976–1978). Life and career McMillan, whose father was an employee at the Victorian Public Works Department, was educated at Mentone Grammar School and Melbourne Grammar School. He attended the University of Melbourne, living at Trinity College and in 1934 was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree, with honours, having won the Wyselaskie Scholarship in Modern Languages that year also. He later completed a Master of Arts and while in Canberra he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws. In 1937, McMillan joined the Department of External Affairs, appointed through the Melbourne University Appointments Board as a third secretary. His first posting, in 1941, was to the United States, working as third secretary to then Australian Ambassador to the United States Richard Casey. He departed Washington in 1943 to serve as second secretary in Moscow, before returning to Canberra in 1946.