Lucille M. Mair

Lucille Mathurin Mair, (née Walrond; 1924 – 28 January 2009), was a Jamaican ambassador, author, diplomat and gender specialist. In March 1982, she became the first female Under Secretary General of the United Nations. She died aged 85 in Kingston, Jamaica.

Lucille Mair in 1980

Education and career

Born in Jamaica in 1924,[1] Mair obtained a first degree in history at London University. In 1974 she obtained a Ph.D. in history from the University of the West Indies with a dissertation entitled "A Historical Study of Women in Jamaica 1655–1844",[1] about which Verene Shepherd has said: "Over a period of three decades, it became the most sought-after unpublished work among students and scholars of Caribbean history and culture."[2]

Mair served as Assistant Secretary-General in the office of the United Nations Secretary in 1979, from which she performed the role of Secretary-General for the World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women held in 1980 in Copenhagen.[3] From 1981 to 1982, she served as special advisor to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Women's Development at the level of assistant secretary general.[4] She then went on to served as Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Palestine from 1982 to 1987. In March 1982, Mair was appointed as Under Secretary General of the United Nations, becoming the first woman ever to hold such a title.[1] She was the Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations from 1992 to 1995 and was also Ambassador to Cuba.[1]

Personal life and death

Mair was a widow who single-handedly raised three children. She remarried but filed for divorce.[5] Mair died on 28 January 2009 at her home in Kingston,[4] aged 85.[6] United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his condolences through a statement, praising Mair as a "lifelong champion of the rights of women".[7]

Recognition

The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) awarded its honorary doctorate to Lucille Mair in 1988.[8] In 1996, she received CARICOM's Triennial Award for Women.[3] On 25 October 2016, Mair was posthumously inducted into the Wolmer's Hall of Fame.[9]

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References
  1. "Ambassador Lucille Mair". University of the West Indies. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  2. Verene A. Shepherd, "Tribute to Lucille Mathurin Mair" (letter to the Editor), The Gleaner, 31 January 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  3. "Triennial Award: Dr. Lucille Mathurin Mair". Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  4. "Ambassador Lucille Mair is dead". The Jamaica Observer. 29 January 2009. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  5. "A New Under Secretary General From Jamaica; New Aide at U.N." The New York Times. 10 March 1982.
  6. "Mair hailed, the quintessential West Indian CARICOM Secretary General". CARICOM. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  7. "Statement Attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on the passing of Dr. Lucille Mathurin Mair". United Nations. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  8. ISS Library staff. "Lucille Mair". Institute of Social Studies. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  9. "Five To Be Inducted Into Wolmer's Hall Of Fame". Jamaica Gleaner. 5 October 2019.
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