José Arce was an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 physician, politician and diplomat. He held the position of the President of the United Nations General Assembly

President of the United Nations General Assembly

The President of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted for by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly on a yearly basis.- Election :...

 during the Second special session - between 16 April 1948 and 21 September 1948.

Arce was born at the Estancia

Estância

Estância is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Sergipe. Its population was 62,218 and its area is 642 km². The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Estância....

'La Independencia' in Lobería

Lobería Partido

Lobería Partido is a partido located on the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina.The provincial subdivision has a population of about 17,000 inhabitants in an area of , and its capital city is Lobería.-Economy:...

 and was baptised at Balcarce

Balcarce

-Places:*Balcarce, a city in the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina*Balcarce Partido, the district surrounding the town of Balcarce.-People:*Antonio González de Balcarce , Argentine military commander...

. At just fifteen he began studying at the Medicine Faculty of the University of Buenos Aires

University of Buenos Aires

The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...

, from which he graduated as a doctor in 1903 with the gold medal for his class. He became a surgeon and professor of Anatomy at the University at just 25 years old. He also was professor of Surgery and represented the country in 1907 at the Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

n Medical Congress in Montevideo

Montevideo

Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...

.

In 1909, Arce entered politics, becoming a city legislator of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

 until 1913, serving as chairman in 1912. Continuing his medical career, he was President of the Medical Society of Argentina in 1911. In 1913, Arce was elected to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies

Argentine Chamber of Deputies

The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate....

, serving from 1913 to 1920, 1924 to 1928 and 1934 to 1938, representing Buenos Aires Province

Buenos Aires Province

The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

. He proposed the law creating the Faculty of Economics of UBA. He was Rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of UBA from 1922 to 1926. In 1926, now President of the Chamber of Deputies, he moved the law that created the current building for the Faculty of Medicine.

In 1945, Arce became Ambassador to Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

, and he was the Permanent Representative

Permanent Representative

A Permanent Representative is the head of a diplomatic mission to one of various international organisations. The best known of the organisations to which states send Permanent Representatives is the United Nations; of these, the most high-profile ones are those assigned to headquarters in New...

 of Argentina to the UN for the period 1946-1949, during which time Argentina was a member of the Security Council 1948-49 and Arce was the President of the 1948 Special Session held in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, regarding the situation in Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

. As a postage stamp

Postage stamp

A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...

 collector Arce proposed that the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 should also issue them, an idea that was followed through in 1951 when the United Nations Postal Administration

United Nations Postal Administration

The United Nations Postal Administration is the postal agency of the United Nations. It issues postage stamps and postal stationery, denominated in United States dollars for the United Nations offices in New York, in Swiss francs for the offices in Geneva and in euros for the offices in Vienna...

 was created.

During the government of Juan Perón

Juan Perón

Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...

, he left for exile in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. He wrote several books including a three-volume autobiography, a book dedicated to Francisco Franco

Francisco Franco

Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...

 and a manifesto for the return of the Falkland Islands

Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...

 to Argentine control.

Arce had one daughter, who died aged 14 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 in 1922. Some days later, he donated his books to the faculty library which was named 'María Antonieta Arce' in his daughter's memory. He donated his house in Buenos Aires to become a museum dedicated to President Julio Roca. He received many honours from universities and governments across the world.