The British Institute is pleased to announce the new Director

New Director of the British Institute of Florence: Simon Gammell

Simon Gammell comes to the British Institute after a 30 year career with the British Council, most recently as Country Director in Poland.

Simon studied History and English at Cambridge before training as a teacher at the University of London. Soon after graduating, he moved to Florence and taught at the British Institute for two years. During that time he established an Anglo-Italian theatre group in Florence, before returning to UK to train and work as a Theatre Director for a number of years.

In 1987 he started a four-year position with the British Council in Rome, where his two younger children were born. Subsequent postings with the British Council took him to Buenos Aires, Sydney, Mumbai and Los Angeles – always with a strong focus on arts and education programmes.

In 2004 he was awarded an OBE for services to British-Australian relations.

He is delighted to be returning to Italy to lead the British Institute. He will be accompanied by his wife, Jennifer. His adult children now live in Cadiz, Los Angeles, Tel Aviv and Sydney – but they all love visiting Italy!

He will take up his appointment in October.