Andrew Philip Kingsford Osmond (16 March 1938 â 14 April 1999) was a British diplomat, novelist and one of the co-founders of Private Eye magazine in 1961.
Born in Barnoldby-le-Beck, Lincolnshire, on 16 March 1938, Osmond was the son of Kingsford Osmond, a scion of a well-known Lincolnshire farming family. Educated at Harrow School and Brasenose College, Oxford (1961), Osmond joined the Foreign Office in 1962, being posted first to West Africa â where he met Douglas Hurd â then subsequently Rome.
He gave Private Eye its name, but had sold the majority of his shares less than a year after its launch. He returned to the Eye as managing director in 1969, increasing sales by 160% during his four-year tenure.