Egon Schwelb
Egon Schwelb (1899– March 20, 1979, Manhattan, New York) was a Czech jurist.[1][2][3][4] He played an important role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[5] He was legal director for the United Nations War Crimes Commission before becoming a senior human rights official at the United Nations in New York.[5][6]
In 1922, he earned a doctorate in law from Prague University.[5] He had a law practice in Prague.[5] Some of his clients included those fleeing Nazi persecution.
He was married to Caroline Schwelb, a PhD in German studies from Prague University.[6] They fled Czechoslovakia after the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, working for the Czechoslovak government in exile in London, United Kingdom.[6] Caroline's brother died in the Czechoslovak army whereas her sister died in a concentration camp.[6] They moved to New York after he became a senior human rights official at the United Nations.[6] After retiring from the UN, he lectured at Yale Law School from 1962 to 1968.[6][5] He also took on assignments for the legal and human rights divisions of the UN and the Council of Europe.[5]
Caroline and Egon had one child, Frank Schwelb, who became a judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.[6] Caroline established the language department at Westchester Community College.[6]
Egon died at New York University Hospital.[5] He lived in Manhattan, New York at the time of his death.[5]
Works
- Schwelb, Egon (1964). Human Rights and the International Community: The Roots and Growth of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948-1963. Quadrangle Books.
References
- ↑ Özsu, Umut (2019). ""Emotional Restraint" as Legalist Internationalism: Egon Schwelb's Liberalism After the Fall". The Law of Strangers: Jewish Lawyers and International Law in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge University Press. pp. 167–174. ISBN 978-1-107-14041-7.
- ↑ Siegelberg, Mira (2019). "The Via Media: Egon Schwelb's Mid-century Stoic Legalism and the Birth of Human Rights Law". The Law of Strangers: Jewish Lawyers and International Law in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge University Press. pp. 143–166. ISBN 978-1-107-14041-7.
- ↑ "Egon Schwelb, Ex‐Aide Of U.N. Rights Division". The New York Times. 22 March 1979. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- ↑ Newman, Frank C. (1979). "Egon Schwelb (1899-1979)". American Journal of International Law. 73 (3): 474–475. doi:10.1017/S0002930000759574. ISSN 0002-9300.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Egon Schwelb, Ex‐Aide Of U.N. Rights Division". The New York Times. 1979-03-22. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Martin, Douglas (1991-11-16). "ABOUT NEW YORK; A Survivor's Curiosity To Know Why It All Is". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-19.