Michael Bird OBE

Michael recently left the British Council after 35 years working on cultural relations across Europe, most recently as Director Russia and Cultural Counsellor at the British Embassy in Moscow.

After studying at Cambridge, Harvard and Voronezh universities, he began his British Council career in Moscow at the time of glasnost and perestroika, followed by postings in Brussels, on secondment to the UK Research Councils, and St Petersburg, where he established a new British Council operation. Subsequently he was British Council Country Director in Ukraine, where he co-located the British Council and the Goethe-Institut, Scotland, at a time when devolution was creating new dimensions for cultural relations, and Germany, where he worked with the Secretary General of the Goethe-Institut to develop the new EUNIC network. He was also Regional Director for South East Europe, based in Vienna, and for Wider Europe, based in Istanbul. He ended his British Council career as Director Russia and Cultural Counsellor at the British Embassy in Moscow.