Garry Davis
Encyclopedia
Garry Davis is a peace activist who created the first World Passport
.
in 1940 and attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University
). Later, he earned a Master of Arts degree in geo-dialectics from the East-West University of Brahma Vidya, Bangalore, India.
, based on fundamental human rights. He then formed the World Service Authority
in 1954 as the government's executive and administrative agency, which now issues the passports - along with birth and other certificates - to applicants. Davis first used his "world passport" on a trip to India in 1956, and has been variably admitted into countries around the world using his world passport. Over 180 countries have accepted the world passport at one time or another. In France, his support committee was co-founded by writers Albert Camus
and André Gide
and the Abbé Pierre
as well as Robert Sarrazac, a former leader of the French Résistance who joined Garry in founding the World Cities movement Mundialization
.
Davis ran for mayor in Washington D.C. in 1986 as the candidate of the "World Citizen Party" receiving 585 votes. He also declared himself as the World Citizen Party candidate for the 1988 US presidential election. Davis has published multiple books in favor of his cause of world citizenship.
At the 1992 Earth Summit
in Rio De Janeiro
Davis issued and disbursed a world currency based on kilowatt hours of solar power produced, an idea proposed by Buckminster Fuller
. These "kilowatt dollars" were the earliest documented emissions reduction currency
.
World Passport
The World Passport is a document issued by the World Service Authority, a non-profit organization founded by Garry Davis in 1948, citing Article 13, Section 2, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.-Appearance and issuance fees:...
.
Early life
Davis was the son of Meyer and Hilda Davis. He was graduated from the Episcopal AcademyThe Episcopal Academy
The Episcopal Academy, founded in 1785, is a private, co-educational school for grades Pre-K through 12. In 2008, it relocated from its Merion, Pennsylvania campus and Devon, Pennsylvania satellite campus to its new campus in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania...
in 1940 and attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
). Later, he earned a Master of Arts degree in geo-dialectics from the East-West University of Brahma Vidya, Bangalore, India.
Renunciation of US citizenship
A former Broadway actor, after serving in the US Air Force during WWII as a B-17 bomber pilot, he renounced his American citizenship in Paris in 1948 to become a "citizen of the world." Davis interrupted a session of the United Nations General Assembly on 22 November 1948 calling for "one government for one world". He founded the International Registry of World Citizens in Paris in January 1949 which registered over 750,000 individuals. On 4 September 1953 Davis declared the World Government of World Citizens from the city hall of Ellsworth, MaineEllsworth, Maine
Ellsworth is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Maine, United States. The 2010 Census determined it had a population of 7,741. Ellsworth was Maine's fastest growing city from 2000-2010 with a growth rate of nearly 20 percent...
, based on fundamental human rights. He then formed the World Service Authority
World Service Authority
The World Service Authority , founded in 1953, is a non-profit organization that educates about and promotes "world citizenship", "world law", and World Government. It is best known for issuing World Passports. It has an office in Washington, D.C...
in 1954 as the government's executive and administrative agency, which now issues the passports - along with birth and other certificates - to applicants. Davis first used his "world passport" on a trip to India in 1956, and has been variably admitted into countries around the world using his world passport. Over 180 countries have accepted the world passport at one time or another. In France, his support committee was co-founded by writers Albert Camus
Albert Camus
Albert Camus was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement, which was opposed to some tendencies of the Surrealist movement of André Breton.Camus was awarded the 1957...
and André Gide
André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism between the two World Wars.Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide...
and the Abbé Pierre
Abbé Pierre
LAbbé Pierre, was a French Catholic priest, member of the Resistance during World War II, and deputy of the Popular Republican Movement . He founded in 1949 the Emmaus movement, which has the goal of helping poor and homeless people and refugees...
as well as Robert Sarrazac, a former leader of the French Résistance who joined Garry in founding the World Cities movement Mundialization
Mundialization
The word mundialisation, is the English version of the French word "mondialisation", which today refers in French to what is referred to in English as "globalisation"...
.
Davis ran for mayor in Washington D.C. in 1986 as the candidate of the "World Citizen Party" receiving 585 votes. He also declared himself as the World Citizen Party candidate for the 1988 US presidential election. Davis has published multiple books in favor of his cause of world citizenship.
At the 1992 Earth Summit
Earth Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , also known as the Rio Summit, Rio Conference, Earth Summit was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 June to 14 June 1992.-Overview:...
in Rio De Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
Davis issued and disbursed a world currency based on kilowatt hours of solar power produced, an idea proposed by Buckminster Fuller
Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller was an American systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, futurist and second president of Mensa International, the high IQ society....
. These "kilowatt dollars" were the earliest documented emissions reduction currency
Emissions Reduction Currency System
Emissions Reduction Currency Systems are schemes that provide a positive economic and or social reward for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, either through distribution or redistribution of national currency or through the publishing of coupons, reward points, social currency, or...
.
Sources
- "What's a World Passport?" Daniel Engber, Slate Magazine. http://www.slate.com/id/2138567/?nav=tap3 Accessed 25 March 2006.
- Garry Davis's blog. http://www.worldservice.org/gdblog.html Accessed 25 March 2006.
- Davis v. District Director, INS, 481 F. Supp. 1178 (D.D.C. 1979) http://members.fortunecity.com/legalstuff/481FSupp1178.htm Accessed 4 November 2006.