Nobel Prize

For four decades Lester Bowles Pearson (April 23, 1897-1972) has been noted for his diplomatic sensitivity, his political acumen, and his personal popularity. He is affectionately called «Mike», a nickname given to him by his flying instructor in World War I, who discarded «Lester» as being insufficiently bellicose. Born in Toronto of Irish stock on…

Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld (July 29, 1905-September 18, 1961) was the youngest of four sons of Agnes (Almquist) Hammarskjöld and Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, prime minister of Sweden, member of the Hague Tribunal, governor of Uppland, chairman of the Board of the . In a brief piece written for a radio program in 1953, Dag Hammarskjöld…

A jurist, humanitarian, and internationalist, René Samuel Cassin (October 5, 1887- ) is one of the world’s foremost proponents of the legal as well as the moral recognition of the rights of man. Neither a pessimist nor an optimist, the peace laureate, eighty-one years old when awarded the prize in 1968, confessed that “men are…

Menachem Begin was born in Brest-Litovsk, Poland on 16 August 1913, son of Zeev-Dov and Hassia Begin. He was educated at the Mizrachi Hebrew School and the Polish Gymnasium (High School). In 1931, he entered Warsaw University and took his law degree in 1935. Until the age of 13 he belonged to the Hashomer Hatza’ir…

Alfonso García Robles was born in Zamora in Mexico in 1911. After studying law he entered his country’s foreign service in 1939. From 1962 to 1964 he held the post of Ambassador to Brazil, and from 1964 to 1970 was State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1971 to 1975 he was Mexico’s…

President Kim Dae-jung was born on 8 January 1924* in a small village on an island of South Korea’s southwestern coast. He graduated from a commercial high school in 1943. When the Syngman Rhee Administration (1948-1960) began to become increasingly dictatorial, he decided to enter politics. His political career proved to be rather turbulent from…

Willy Brandt was born in Lübeck, Germany, in December, 1913. He was educated in Lübeck and in Oslo after escaping Nazi persecution in Germany. After leaving Germany, he continued his work against Nazism through international cooperation and frequent visits to various European countries. He had close links with German anti-Nazi forces and for some time…

Born 25th December 1918 in Tala District, Menufia Governorate, EgyptMarried to Jihan Sadat Education: Military College Editor Al Jumhuriya and Al Tahrir1955-56Minister of State1955-56Vice-Chairman National Assembly1957-60Chairman National Assembly1960-68General Secretary Egyptian National Union1957-61Chairman Afro-Asian Solidarity Council1961Member Presidential Council1962-1964Vice-president of Egypt1964-66, 1969-70President of Egypt1970Prime Minister1973-74Chairman Arab Socialist Union1970Member Higher Council on Nuclear Energy1975 Selected BibliographyThe…

José Ramos-Horta, born December 26, 1949 in Dili, East Timor. Single with one son. Catholic. Living in Lisbon and Sydney. Current positions Special Representative of the National Council of Maubere Resistance of East Timor. CNRM is a non-partisan supreme national body based inside East Timor comprising all East Timorese nationalist political forces and resistance groups.…

Kofi A. Annan of Ghana, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, is the first to be elected from the ranks of UN staff. His first five-year term began on 1 January 1997 and, following his subsequent re-appointment by the UN Member States, he will begin a second five-year term on 1 January 2002. As…