Philip
Noel-Baker was born on 1st November, 1889. His father, Joseph Allen
Baker, was a Quaker who ran a successful
machine manufacturing form. Baker, a pacifist,
was a member of the London County Council
(1895-1907) and the House of Commons (1905-1918).
After graduating from King's
College, Cambridge, he continued
his education in Paris and Munich and in 1914 was appointed vice-principal
of Ruskin College in Oxford. On the outbreak
of the First World War he became the commandant
of the Friends' Ambulance Unit and served on the Western
Front (1914-15) and it Italy (1915-18).
In 1918 Noel-Baker became
principal assistant to Robert
Cecil on the
committee which drafted the League of Nations
Covenant. After its formation he was a member of the Secretariat
of the League as served as principal assistant to Sir Eric
Drummond, the secretary-general of the League.
Noel-Baker was fluent in
seven languages. He was also an exceptional athlete and was captain
of the British team in the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp and won the
silver medal in the 1,500 metres.
In 1924 Noel-Baker became
professor for international relations at London
University. He held the post until 1929 when he was appointed
as a member of the British delegation to the Assembly of the League
of Nations. During this period Noel-Baker wrote several books
including The League of Nations at Work
(1926), Disarmament (1926) and
Disarmament and the Coolidge Conference
(1927).
Noel-Baker, a member of
the Labour Party, was elected to the House
of Commons in 1929. He was a member of the National Executive
of the Labour Party in 1937 and during the Second
World War he joined the government as parliamentary secretary
to the Master of War Transport.
In 1944 Noel-Baker was
placed in charge of British preparatory work for the United
Nations and the following year helped to draft the Charter of
the UN at San
Francisco. In
1946 Noel-Baker was a member of the British delegation.
In the government led by
Clement
Attlee Noel-Baker
served as Minister of State in the Foreign Office (1945-1946), Secretary
of State for Air (1946-1947), Secretary of State for Commonwealth
Relations (1947-1950) and Minister of Fuel and Power (1950-51).
After the Labour
Party lost the 1951 General Election
Noel-Baker became a member of the shadow cabinet. He also published
his books, The Arms Race: A Programme for
World Disarmament (1958). The following year he won the
Nobel Peace Prize.
In
1960 Noel-Baker was appointed as president of the International Council
on Sport and Physical Recreation of UNESCO. Other books by Noel-Baker
include The Arms Race (1960),
The Private Manufacture of Armaments
(1975) Disarm or Die (1978) and
The First World Disarmament Conference
(1979).
Philip
Noel-Baker
died in London on 8th October, 1982.
History
of the European Union: Integration Process and European Citizenship
