Gladwyn Jebb

Hubert Miles Gladwyn Jebb, 1st Baron Gladwyn, GCMG, GCVO, CB, known as Gladwyn Jebb (25 April 1900 – 24 October 1996), was a prominent British civil servant, diplomat and politician as well as the first Acting Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Gladwyn Jebb GCMG, GCVO, CB
Acting Secretary-General of the United Nations
In office 24 October 1945 – 2 February 1946
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Trygve Lie
Personal details
Born	(1900-04-25)25 April 1900 United Kingdom
Died	24 October 1996(1996-10-24) (aged 96) Suffolk
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Cynthia Jebb, Lady Gladwyn

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Acting UN Secretary-General

After World War II, he served as Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission of the United Nations in August 1945. He was appointed Acting United Nations Secretary-General from October 1945 to February 1946 until the appointment of the first Secretary-General Trygve Lie.

Ambassador

Returning to London, Jebb was Deputy to the Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin 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 1950-1954 and to Paris from 1954-1960.

Political career

In 1960 Jebb was made a hereditary peer and as Baron Gladwyn became involved in politics as a member of the Liberal Party. He was Deputy Leader of the Liberals in the House of Lords 1965-1988 and spokesman on foreign affairs and defence. An supporter of the European Union, he served as a Member of the European Parliament 1973-1976 where he was also the Vice-President of the Parliament's Political Committee. He tried to be elected to the European Parliament 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.

Death

He died in 1996, and is buried at St. Andrew's, Bramfield 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.

Honours

• Commander of the CMG 1942
• KCMG in 1949
• GCMG, 1954
• 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

Preceded by Sir Oliver Harvey	British Ambassador to France 1954-1960	Succeeded by Sir Pierson Dixon
Political offices
Preceded by Secretary General of the League of Nations Seán Lester	Acting Secretary-General of the United Nations 1945-1946	Succeeded by Trygve Lie
Preceded by New Creation	Baron Gladwyn 1960 – 1996	Succeeded by Miles Gladwyn Jebb

Other websites

• Cambridge Archives Centre - Gladwyn Papers