Gladwyn Jebb, 1st Baron Gladwyn
Encyclopedia
Hubert Miles Gladwyn Jebb, 1st Baron Gladwyn, GCMG, GCVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...

, CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

, known as Gladwyn Jebb (25 April 1900 – 24 October 1996), was a prominent British civil servant, diplomat and politician as well as the Acting Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Early life and family life

The son of Sydney Jebb, of Firbeck Hall, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, Jebb was educated at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

, then Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...

, gaining a first in History. In 1929 he married Cynthia Noble, with whom he had one son and two daughters, Miles, Vanessa, married to the historian Hugh Thomas, and Stella, married to the scientist Joel de Rosnay
Joël de Rosnay
Joël de Rosnay , Ph.D from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a Mauritian-born French futurist, science writer, and molecular biologist....

.

Diplomatic career

Jebb entered the Diplomatic Service in 1924, served in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...

, where he became known to Harold Nicolson
Harold Nicolson
Sir Harold George Nicolson KCVO CMG was an English diplomat, author, diarist and politician. He was the husband of writer Vita Sackville-West, their unusual relationship being described in their son's book, Portrait of a Marriage.-Early life:Nicolson was born in Tehran, Persia, the younger son of...

 and to Vita Sackville-West
Vita Sackville-West
The Hon Victoria Mary Sackville-West, Lady Nicolson, CH , best known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author, poet and gardener. She won the Hawthornden Prize in 1927 and 1933...

 and in Rome, as well as at the Foreign Office in London where, amongst other positions, he served as the Private Secretary to the Head of the Diplomatic Service.

World War II

In August 1940, Jebb was appointed to the Ministry of Economic Warfare with temporary rank of Assistant Under-Secretary. In 1942 he was appointed Head of the Reconstruction Department and in 1943 was made a Counsellor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...

 within the Foreign Office. In this capacity he attended numerous international conferences, including those at Tehran
Tehran Conference
The Tehran Conference was the meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill between November 28 and December 1, 1943, most of which was held at the Soviet Embassy in Tehran, Iran. It was the first World War II conference amongst the Big Three in which Stalin was present...

, Yalta
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...

 and Potsdam
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...

.

Acting UN Secretary-General

After World War II, he served as Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission of the United Nations in August 1945, being appointed Acting United Nations Secretary-General from October 1945 to February 1946 until the appointment of the first Secretary-General Trygve Lie
Trygve Lie
Trygve Halvdan Lie was a Norwegian politician, labour leader, government official and author. He served as Norwegian Foreign minister during the critical years of the Norwegian government in exile in London from 1940 to 1945. From 1946 to 1952 he was the first Secretary-General of the United...

. He remains the only UN Secretary General or Acting Secretary General to come from a permanent member state of the UN Security Council.

Ambassador

Returning to London, Jebb served as Deputy to the Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin was a British trade union leader and Labour politician. He served as general secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1945, as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour Government.-Early...

 at the Conference of Foreign Ministers before serving as the Foreign Office's United Nations Adviser (1946–47). He represented the United Kingdom at the Brussels Treaty Permanent Commission with personal rank of ambassador. He became the United Kingdom's Ambassador to the United Nations from 1950 to 1954 and to Paris from 1954-1960. In the latter role he was angered that secret negotiations between the British, French and Israelis in advance of the Suez invasion
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...

 in 1956 took place at Sèvres
Protocol of Sèvres
The Protocol of Sèvres was a secret agreement reached between the governments of Israel, France and the United Kingdom during discussions held between 22 and 24 October 1956 at Sèvres, France...

 without his knowledge, and, in certain respects, he was sidelined by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....

 at the Paris "big power" summit in 1960. His rather "grand" manner caused Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd
Selwyn Lloyd
John Selwyn Brooke Lloyd, Baron Selwyn-Lloyd CH PC CBE TD , known for most of his career as Selwyn Lloyd, was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Foreign Secretary from 1955 to 1960, then as Chancellor of the Exchequer until 1962...

 to coin the epigram, "You're a deb
Debutante
A débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...

, Sir Gladwyn Jebb".

Political career

He was knighted in 1949. In 1960 Jebb was made a hereditary peer
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

 and as Baron Gladwyn became involved in politics as a member of the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

. He was Deputy Leader of the Liberals in the House of Lords 1965-1988 and spokesman on foreign affairs and defence. An ardent European, he served as a Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

 from 1973 to 1976, where he was also the Vice-President of the Parliament's Political Committee. He unsuccessfully contested the Suffolk seat in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

 in 1979.

When asked why he had joined the Liberal party in the early 1960s, he replied that the Liberals were a party without a general and that he was a general without a party. Like many Liberals, he passionately believed that education was the key to social reform.

Other activities

He became a good cook and for a long time was chairman of the British government's wine committee. A good shot, he never ceased to be interested by rural pursuits. He was a friend of Cyril Connolly
Cyril Connolly
Cyril Vernon Connolly was an English intellectual, literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine Horizon and wrote Enemies of Promise , which combined literary criticism with an autobiographical exploration of why he failed to become the successful author of...

 and of Nancy Mitford
Nancy Mitford
Nancy Freeman-Mitford, CBE , styled The Hon. Nancy Mitford before her marriage and The Hon. Mrs Peter Rodd thereafter, was an English novelist and biographer, one of the Bright Young People on the London social scene in the inter-war years...

.

Death

He died in 1996, and is buried at St. Andrew's, Bramfield
Bramfield, Suffolk
Bramfield is a small village in the county of Suffolk, England. The village is found off the A12 road, one of the main arterial routes through the county....

 in the county of Suffolk.

Lady Gladwyn

Jebb's wife, Cynthia, Lady Gladwyn, was a noted diarist of their times in Paris and a hostess of Liberal and London politics. She was the great-grand daughter of Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...

.

Honours

  • GCMG, 1954 (preceded by a KCMG in 1949 and a CMG
    Order of St Michael and St George
    The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....

     in 1942)
  • GCVO, 1957
  • Companion of the Bath, 1947
  • Grand Croix de la Légion d'Honneur, 1957

Publications and papers

Publications by Baron Gladwyn include:
  • Is Tension Necessary?, 1959
  • Peaceful Co-existence, 1962
  • The European Idea, 1966
  • Half-way to 1984, 1967
  • De Gaulle's Europe, or, Why the General says No, 1969
  • Europe after de Gaulle, 1970
  • The Memoirs of Lord Gladwyn, 1972


The papers of 1st Lord Gladwyn were deposited at Churchill Archives Centre
Churchill Archives Centre
The Churchill Archives Centre is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the Churchill Papers, the massive archive of Sir Winston Churchill, as well as the private papers of Baroness Thatcher...

 at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

 by his son, 2nd Lord Gladwyn, between 1998 and 2000.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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