Geoffrey Tantum

MI6 Middle East controller c.1995

Sir Geoffrey Tantum (1940-2024) was a senior MI6 officer who served as the service’s Middle East Controller until 1995.¹

Early life
Geoffrey Alan Tantum was born on 12 November 1940, to parents George Tantum (a civil servant) and the former Margaret Goozée.² He was educated at Hampton School (a state grammar at the time) from 1952 to 1958, and at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.³

He served in the British Army from 1959 to 1966.⁴ This included periods as an infantry officer, in the Intelligence Corps, and three years to the Royal Marines 3rd Commando Brigade.⁵ The latter posting involved active service in Borneo, where Tantum was attached to the Special Boat Section (SBS) alongside the future politician Paddy Ashdown.⁶

It was through SBS that Tantum was ‘invited’ by MI6 to study Arabic.⁷ He read Oriental Studies at St John’s College, Oxford, graduating with first class honours.⁸