Seán Lester
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Seán Lester | |
---|---|
Deputy Secretary-General of the League of Nations | |
In office 18 February 1937 – 26 July 1940 Serving with Frank Walters | |
Secretary-General | Joseph Avenol |
Preceded by | Pablo de Azcárate |
Succeeded by | Frank Walters |
Personal details | |
Born | John Ernest Lester 28 September 1888 Carrickfergus, Ireland |
Died | 13 June 1959 Galway, Ireland | (aged 70)
Spouse |
Elizabeth Tyrrell (m. 1920) |
Children | 3 |
Profession | Journalist |
Seán Lester (28 September 1888 – 13 June 1959) was an Irish diplomat who was the last
Early life
He was born in County Antrim as John Ernest Lester, the son of a
After the Irish War of Independence, a number of his friends joined the new government of the Irish Free State. Lester was offered and accepted the position as director of publicity.
He married Elizabeth Ruth Tyrrell in 1920 by whom he had three daughters.[1]
Diplomatic career
In 1923, he joined Ireland's Department of External Affairs. He was sent to Geneva in 1929 to replace Michael MacWhite as Ireland's Permanent Delegate to the League of Nations. In 1930, he succeeded in organising Ireland's election to the Council (or executive body) of the League of Nations for a three years. Lester often represented Ireland at Council meetings and stood in for the Minister for External Affairs. He became increasingly involved in the work of the League, particularly in its attempts to bring a resolution to two wars in South America. His work brought him to the attention of the League Secretariat and began his transformation from national to international civil servant.
When Peru and Colombia had a dispute over a town in the headwaters of the Amazon, Lester presided over the committee that found an equitable solution.[1] He also presided over the less-successful committee when Bolivia and Paraguay went to war over the Gran Chaco.[1]
In 1933, Lester was seconded to the League's
In August 2010, a room in the Gdansk City Hall, the building that had been Lester's residence during his stay, was renamed by Mayor Paweł Adamowicz as the Seán Lester Room.[3]
League of Nations
Lester returned to Geneva in 1937 to become Deputy Secretary General of the League of Nations. In 1940, he became Secretary General of the body, but the League now had only 100 employees, including guards and janitors, of the original 700.
Lester remained in Geneva throughout the war and kept the League's technical and humanitarian programs in limited operation for the duration of the war. In 1946, he oversaw the League's closure and turned over the League's assets and functions to the newly-established United Nations.
Later years
Lester was given the
Despite rumours that he would be prepared to stand for election as President of Ireland, Lester sought no permanent office and retired to Recess, County Galway, in the west of Ireland, where he died in 1959. In its obituary, The Times described Lester as an "international conciliator and courageous friend of refugees".
His granddaughter Susan Denham was Chief Justice of Ireland for the Supreme Court of Ireland from 2011 to 2017.
References
- ^ a b c d The Times, (Obituary) 15 June 1959[full citation needed]
- ISBN 0-7171-2945-4.
- ^ Derek Scally, Irish Times, 27 August 2010
Biographies
- Stephen Ashworth Barcroft: The international civil servant: the League of Nations career of Sean Lester, 1929–1947; Dublin 1973
- ISBN 1-86059-108-6
- Arthur W. Rovine: The first fifty years: the secretary-general in world politics 1920–1970; Leyden 1970; ISBN 90-218-9190-5
- Michael Kennedy: Ireland and the League of Nations 1919–1946: politics, diplomacy and international relations; Dublin 1996
- Paul McNamara: Sean Lester, Poland and the Nazi Takeover of Danzig; Irish Academic Press Ltd 2008; ISBN 0-7165-2969-6
External links
- Biography Archived 12 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- Nation Builders: Sean Lester Archived 2 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine biographical article from the producers of an Irish documentary on Lester.
- League of Nations Archives, with a short biography
- League of Nations Archives, Private Archives of Sean Lester
- Documents on Irish Foreign Policy website
- Newspaper clippings about Seán Lester in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW