United Nations History/Trygve Lie

Who was he?

Trygve Halvdan Lie (July 16, 1896 – December 30, 1968) was a Norwegian politician. From 1946 to 1952 he was the first elected Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Early life

Lie was born in Oslo (then Kristiania) on 16 July 1896. Lie's father, Martin, left the family to work as a carpenter in the United States and his mother, Hulda, ran a boarding house. Lie joined the Labour Party in 1911 and was named as the party's national secretary soon after receiving his law degree from the University of Oslo in 1919. He married Hjørdis Jørgensen in 1921; the couple had three daughters, Sissel, Guri, and Mette.

Legal Work

He worked as a legal consultant from 1922 and was subsequently elected to the Storting (Norway's Parliament). He was appointed Minister of Justice when a Labour Party government was formed by Johan Nygaardsvold in 1935. Lie was later named Minister of Trade and Industries and Minister of Supply and Shipping.

Trygve Lie and Trotsky

An early admirer of the October Revolution in Russia, Lie once met Vladimir Lenin and gave permission for Leon Trotsky to settle in Norway after he was exiled from the Soviet Union. It has been rumored that Lie succumbed to Joseph Stalin's wishes to have Trotsky placed under house arrest, though historians can neither confirm nor fully deny this. Lie later ordered Trotsky to leave Norway when Trotsky violated his promise to refrain from political activity.

Count Folke Bernadotte

United Nations Security Council Resolution 72, adopted on August 11, 1949, after receiving a report by the Acting United Nations Mediator in Palestine on the completion of his responsibilities the UN decided to pay tribute to the late Count Folke Bernadotte, the then current Acting Mediator Dr. Ralph J. Bunche and the Belgian, French, Swedish and American officers who served on the staff and as military observers in Palestine.

Folke Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (2 January 1895 – 17 September 1948), was a Swedish diplomat noted for his negotiation of the release of about 15,000 prisoners from German concentration camps during World War II. In 1945, he received a German surrender offer from Heinrich Himmler, though the offer was ultimately rejected.

After the war, Bernadotte was unanimously chosen by the victorious powers to be the United Nations Security Council mediator in the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1947-1948. He was assassinated in Jerusalem in 1948 by members of the underground Zionist group Lehi while pursuing his official duties.

Text of Resolution

The Security Council,

Having taken note of the report of the Acting United Nations Mediator in Palestine, submitted upon the completion of his responsibilities,

1. Desires to pay tribute to the qualities of patience, perseverance and devotion to the ideal of international peace of the late Count Folke Bernadotte, who stabilized the situation in Palestine and who, together with ten members of his staff, gave his life in the service of the United Nations;
2. Desires to express its deep appreciation of the qualities of tact, understanding, perseverance and devotion to duty of Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, Acting United Nations Mediator in Palestine, who has brought to a successful conclusion the negotiation of armistice agreements between Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria on the one hand and Israel on the other;
3. Desires also to associate in this expression of appreciation the members of the staff of the United Nations mission in Palestine, including both the members of the United Nations Secretariat and the Belgian, French, Swedish and United States officers who served on the staff and as military observers in Palestine.