John Adye

{{Short description|British cryptographer}} {{about||the 19th century British general|John Miller Adye|the English plantation owner and politician|John Willett Adye}} {{infobox person | honorific_prefix = Sir | name = John Adye | honorific_suffix = KCMG | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1939|10|24|df=y}}, | birth_place = Liverpool, Merseyside, England | occupation = Intelligence officer | spouse = Lady Anne Adye (m, 1961) | alma_mater = Lincoln College, Oxford }} '''Sir John Anthony Adye''' <small>KCMG</small> (born 24 October 1939) is a former Director of the British signals intelligence agency, GCHQ, a post he held from 1989 to 1996.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|title=Adye, Sir John (Anthony), (born 24 Oct. 1939), Director, Government Communications Headquarters, 1989–96|date=2007-12-01|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U5064|work=Who's Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u5064|access-date=2021-08-03|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Career== Adye was born to Arthur Francis Capel Adye and Hilda Marjorie (née Elkes). Adye was educated at Leighton Park School and Lincoln College, Oxford, receiving a degree in Mods and Greats. <ref>Burke's Peerage</ref> Adye joined GCHQ in 1962, becoming Director in 1989. As Director, Adye oversaw GCHQ`s response to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.<ref name="Behind The Enigma, 2020">{{cite book |last1=Ferris |first1=John Ferris |title=Behind The Enigma - the Authorised History of GCHQ |date=2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury |pages=679-680 |edition=1st}}</ref> After retiring from GCHQ in 1996, he served as the chair of the Country Houses Association until 2002.<ref name=bio>[http://www.nationalbiometric.org/about_NBSP_board_2adye.php National Biometric Security Project]</ref> In 1993 Adye was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George.<ref name=":0" /> In 2005 he was appointed to the board of the US National Biometric Security Project.<ref name=bio/>

Adye was a witness in February 2008 at the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales: in an unprecedented move (normal policy is neither to confirm nor deny operational activities), he strenuously denied that GCHQ had any involvement in either the Camillagate or Squidgygate tapes.<ref>[http://www.metro.co.uk/news/107636-dianas-calls-not-bugged-by-gchq Diana's calls 'not bugged by GCHQ'] Metro, 28 February 2008</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{S-gov}} {{succession box | before= Sir Peter Marychurch | title= Director of GCHQ | years= 1989–1996 | after= Sir David Omand | }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adye, John}} Category:Directors of the Government Communications Headquarters Category:Living people Category:1939 births Category:People educated at Leighton Park School Category:Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Category:Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George