Peter K Murphy, who retired earlier this year as Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta in the Principality of Monaco, has been honoured in his native Winchester, Massachusetts.

Murphy attended the local school before moving to Boston College, and has retained strong links in the town. Before representing the Catholic charitable order in the Principality, Murphy was a long-serving career office in the US foreign service.

He served his country at the US consulates in Argentina, Italy, Romania, Germany, and Vatican City.

His duties over the years were far from hum-drum. Among career highlights, he negotiated with China to establish the first two American consulates in China and was successful in dealing with the then Soviet Union in reducing restrictions on US residents and visitors.

In a message to students at Winchester High School, Murphy said, “If what I have told you of the Foreign Service of the United States can convince a few young students at Winchester High School to follow in my footsteps, I would be very pleased … In today’s changing world, our country has need of good, young representatives abroad. Should they choose such a career, I guarantee that they will be rewarded as in no other career.”

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