OWEN
,
Sir
ARTHUR DAVID KEMP
(
1904
-
1970
),
international administrator
;
b.
26 Nov. 1904
, the eldest son of
Edward
Owen
,
minister
of
Crane Street church (B)
,
Pontypool, Mon.
, who some months previously had moved from
Bethel church (B)
,
Tonypandy
, and his wife
Gertrude Louisa
, daughter of
Thomas Henry
Kemp
. (He had been a notable
schoolmaster
in
Tal-y-bont, Cards.
, from
1865 to 1892
and a
master in the Normal department
of the
University College of Wales
from
1892 to 1894
, after which he moved to become
principal
of the
Merthyr Tydfil Teacher's Training Centre
). The family moved from
Wales
in
1908
when the father was inducted as
minister
of
Hope church
,
Hebden
, near
Leeds
.
David Kemp
, as he was generally known, was educated at
Leeds grammar school
and the
University
. He graduated in economics and commercial studies, taking the
M.Com.
degree in
1929
. He was
assistant lecturer in economics
at
Huddersfield Technical College
,
1926-29
;
director
of
Sheffield Social Survey Committee
,
1929-33
,
secretary of the Civic Division
,
Political and Economic Planning (P.E.P.)
,
1933-36
;
co-director
of the
Pilgrim Trust Unemployment Enquiry
,
1933-37
;
lecturer in citizenship
,
University of Glasgow
,
1937-40
;
general secretary
,
P.E.P.
,
1940-41
. In
1942
he became
personal assistant
to
Sir
Stafford
Cripps
in the office of the
Lord Privy Seal
and later in the
Ministry of Aircraft Production
. He was a member of the
Cripps
mission to
India
in
1942
, and of the
Reconstruction Department
of the
Foreign Office
in charge of
League of Nations
affairs,
1944-45
. He was a
member of the U.K. Delegation
at the
International Labour Conferences
held in
Philadelphia
in
1944
and in
San Francisco
in
1945
. He became
one of the leading administrators of the United Nations
from
1946
until his retirement in
1969
. He acted on the
editorial board
of the
Encyclopaedia Britannica
from
1959 to 1968
. He was a steadfast believer in the principle of co-operation
between nations; his service to the
United Nations
at a time when that organisation was being set up was crucial. His efforts gained him general respect. His Welsh nonconformist ancestry doubtless influenced his ideals; there was a hint of a Welsh accent in his speech. Shortly before his death, he was made
General Secretary
of the
International Planned Parenthood Federation
.
He m. in
1933
Elizabeth Joyce
, daughter of
E.H.
Morgan
,
Methodist minister
. A son and a daughter were born to them. After their divorce in
1950
he m.
Elizabeth Elsa
Miller
; they had two sons. He d. in
St. Thomas' Hospital
,
London
, on
29 June 1970
, after being created
K.C.M.G.
that year. In addition to publishing his reports on the
Sheffield
survey in
1931-33
, he published
British Social Services
in
1940
and a host of contributions to periodicals. He received honorary
LL.D.
degrees from the universities of
Leeds
in
1954
, and
Wales
in
1969
.
Bibliography:
-
Who was who?
;
-
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
,
1964-70
.
Author:
Evan David Jones, F.S.A., (1903-87), Aberystwyth
