Szeming Sze
Szeming Sze (Chinese: 施思明; pinyin: Shī Sīmíng; April 5, 1908 – October 27, 1998) was a diplomat for his home country of China who helped build the World Health Organization into a specialized United Nations agency.
Early life
Sze was born in Tientsin (now
He was educated at Winchester College and Christ's College, Cambridge (1925 to 1928), and received degrees in chemistry and medicine. He interned in Britain, where he was inspired by his residency at St. Thomas Hospital in a London slum to do public service, before returning to China in 1934.[1]
Career
Early years
He was in the
Initiator of World Health Organization
Before the
UN years
Sze became chief of specialized agencies for the Eco-nomic & Social Council of the United Nations. He was greatly disappointed when he was later offered a job at WHO that he couldn't take because of his U.N. commitments.
He became U.N. medical director in 1954,[1][3] taking care of the permanent staff of about 3000, including inoculating them and preparing them for missions abroad. He held the position for 20 years.[4]
Reputation
In 1975,
In 1998, at the 51st World Health Assembly, the Norwegian Minister of Health, Mr Dagfinn Høybråten, acknowledged Dr Szeming Sze as “one of the initiators of the WHO”. Mr Høybråten quoted Dr Sze as saying “Of course we can learn from history. We learn from the mistakes made if not from the successes. Learning the reasons why certain things happened often saves us from making the same mistakes again”.
Personal life and posterity
Sze married to Bessie Li (Chinese: 李月卿), a pianist in 1934 and he is survived by a daughter, Diane Wei (Chinese: 施家莲); a son, architect Chia-ming Sze (Chinese: 施家铭); two sisters, Julia Sze-Bailey, and Alice Wang; five grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren. Sze's granddaughter, Sarah Sze (born 1969) won a MacArthur "genius grant" in 2003 for her work as an installation artist. His grandson, David Sze, is a managing partner at the venture capital firm Greylock Partners.
Death
Sze died on October 27, 1998, at Presbyterian Senior Care, at
References
- ^ a b c Sze Szeming Papers, 1945–2014, UA.90.F14.1, University Archives, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh.
- ^ The word ‘Health’ in the UN Charter Archived 2008-11-08 at the Wayback Machine WHO SEARO, 2006-04-26.
- .
- ^ Obituary: Szeming Sze – U.N. medical director, founder of WHO Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine AFRO-NETS 2006-11-08
- ^ Dr. Szeming Sze, 90, U.N. Health Official The New York Times, 1998-11-08.
External links
Memoirs
- Sze, Szeming. The origins of the World Health Organization a personal memoir, 1945–1948. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh, Digital Research Library, 2014.
- Sze, Szeming. Working for the United Nations : a personal memoir, 1948–1968. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh, Digital Research Library, 2014.