Noel-Baker, Philip, 1889-1982

Philip John Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, was born on November 1, 1889, in London, England.

He was a British Labour politician, educator, and Nobel prizewinner. He was educated at Bootham School, York, Haverford College, Pennsylvania, and King's College, Cambridge (1910–1912). He was president of the Cambridge Union and the Cambridge University Athletic Club. He participated in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics (1500 meters) and won a silver medal at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. In 1914, he was appointed as vice-principal of Ruskin College, Oxford, and in 1915, he was elected a Fellow at King's College, Cambridge. During World War I, Noel-Baker organized and led the Friends' Ambulance Unit attached to the fighting front in France (1914-1915) and the First British Ambulance Unit for Italy (1915-1918), for which he received military medals from France, Italy, and Britain. After the war, he was closely involved in the formation of the League of Nations. Noel-Baker became the first Sir Ernest Cassel Professor of International Relations at the University of London (1924-1929) and a lecturer at Yale University (1933-1934). His political career with the Labour Party began in 1924 when he stood, unsuccessfully, for Parliament. He was elected as a member for Coventry in 1929 but lost his seat in 1931. In 1936, Noel-Baker won a by-election in Derby; when that seat divided in 1950, he transferred to Derby South and continued until 1970. He served as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (1942), Secretary of State for Air (1946), and Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations (1947). In the mid-1940s, Noel-Baker served on the British delegation to the future United Nations, helping to draft its charter and other rules for operation. He served as Chairman of the Labour Party (1946–1947). An advocate of multilateral nuclear disarmament, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1959. He was president of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education from 1960 to 1976. In 1977, he was raised to the peerage of Baron Noel-Baker of the City of Derby.

In 1915, he married Irene Noel (1879–1956). His mistress from 1936 to 1956 was Lady Megan Lloyd George (1902–1966). He died on October 8, 1982, in London, England.