A Short History of the Man
John Humphrey was born on April 30, 1905, in Hampton, New Brunswick. He eventually attended McGill University and obtained a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Civil Law.
He later taught at McGill University in the Faculty of Law. While at McGill he met, Henri Laugier, a French professor who had fled France during the Second World War and was teaching at the Université de Montréal. Laugier later became Assistant to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and from this postion offered Humphrey, the position of Director of the Human Rights Division of the United Nations.
Humphrey accepted and one of the first tasks he undertook as Director of the UN Human Rights division was to make preparations for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which included Eleanor Rosevelt on its directorate, and to begin an International Bill of Rights.
On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly unanimously adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which has remained a collective expression of the global commitment to freedom and has served as the source of many national human rights documents
During the 20 years that John Humphrey was at the UN he continually worked to advance the cause of human rights around the world. As early as 1963, proposed the creation of a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. However this only came to pass after more than thirty years, under the auspisus of Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary General of the Un. For an article about this matter see "Humphrey and the High Commissioner: the Genesis of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights." Journal of the History of
International Law. III (2001), pp. 38-74. Regretfully this article is not avaiable on line.
In April of 1966, John Humphrey left the UN and returned to the McGill Faculty of Law. In 1974 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He died in 1995.
Here are some other cyber spaces where you can learn more about this amazing Canadian.
THE LINKS
United Nations
The Declaration
Dear Rufus:
a Law Student’s Life at McGill in the Roaring Twenties from the letters of John P. Humphrey.
McGill Law Journal XLIV (No. 3, 1999), pp. 753-778.
John Humphrey
John Humphrey and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
By Bob Carty, ex Montreal on the CBC site for This Morning the Sunday Edition
John Humphrey and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
New Brunswick Human Rights Commission
Canadian UN Pages
A Tribute to John Humphrey.
The following information is not available on line but may be of interest for anyone who is interested in John Humphry.
"Humphrey and the Old Revolution: Human Rights in the Age of Mistrust"
Fontanus VIII (1995) pp. 121-136.
"Canadian Unity in Quebec in 1942:
a Roundtable Discussion among John Humphrey, Hugh MacLennan and Émile Vaillancourt"
Fontanus VI (1993) pp. 119-141. Partially reprinted and translated as “Le Québec devant l’unité canadienne” Cité libre XXIII (mai-juin, 1995) pp. 11-17.
"Human Rights inside the United Nations: the Humphrey Diaries, 1948-1959."
Fontanus IV (1991) pp. 143-173.
"René Cassin and the Daughter of Time:
the First Draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights"
Fontanus II (1989) pp. 7?26.
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