Seán MacBride
Biographical
Seán MacBride was born on January 26, 1904 in Paris. He took an active part in the movement for Irish independence and suffered imprisonment on several occasions.
| 1947-1958 | Member of Dail Eireann (Irish Parliament). |
| 1948-1951 | Minister for External Affairs for Ireland in Inter-Party Government. In 1954 was offered but declined, Ministerial Office in Irish Government. |
| 1948-1951 | Vice-President of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC). |
| 1950 | President, Committee of Ministers of Council of Europe. |
| 1963-1971 | Secretary-General, International Commission of Jurists. |
| 1966 | Consultant to the Pontifical Commission on Justice and Peace. |
| 1961-1975 | Chairman Amnesty International Executive. |
| 1968-1974 | Chairman of the Executive International Peace Bureau 1968-1974 Chairman, 1975-85 President. |
| 1968-1974 | Chairman Special Committee of International Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) on Human Rights (Geneva). |
| 1973 | Vice-Chairman, Congress of World Peace Forces (Moscow, October 1973). |
| 1973 | Vice-President, World Federation of United Nations Associations. |
| 1973-1977 | Elected by the General Assembly of the United Nations to the post of United Nations Commissioner for Namibia with rank of Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. |
| 1977-1980 | Chairman, Commission on International Communication for UNESCO. |
| 1982 | Chairman of the International Commission looking into possible violations of international law by Israel after the invasion of Lebanon. |
Honours
American Medal of Justice (1975).
Lenin Peace Prize (1977).
Many honorary degrees from universities.
Selected Bibliography
By MacBride*
“Anglo-Irish Relationships: The Overwhelming Majority of people Want a United Ireland”. Vital Speeches 48 (1 November 1981): 40-44.
The Right to Refuse to Kill: A New Guide to Conscientious Objection and Service Refusal. Geneva: International Peace Bureau, 1971.
Other Sources
Coogan, Timothy Patrick. The I.R.A. New York: Praeger, 1970. (Historical account by a leading Irish journalist.)
MacBride, Maud Gonne. A Servant of the Queen. Dublin: Golden & Eagle, 1950. (Autobiography of Seán MacBride’s mother.)
“MacBride, Seán”. In CB, 1949.
Seán MacBride of Ireland is Dead at 83″. New York Times, 16 January 1988.
Weil, Gordon L. The European Convention on Human Rights: Background, Development and Prospects. Leyden: Sijthoff, 1962. (Well researched.)
This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.
Seán MacBride died on 15 January 1988.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
