| Code | DS/UK/54 |
| Dates | 1864-1958 |
| Person Name | Gascoyne-Cecil; Lord; Edgar Algernon Robert (1864-1958); 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood;; statesman, lawyer, co-creator of the League of Nations |
| Surname | Gascoyne-Cecil |
| Forenames | Edgar Algernon Robert |
| PreTitle | Lord |
| Title | 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood; |
| Epithet | statesman, lawyer, co-creator of the League of Nations |
| Source | Philip Longworth, The Unending Vigil, (London: Constable & Company Ltd., 1967); "Who Was Who, 1951-1960", (London: A & C Black Ltd., 1961); CWGC Archive, MU 3, Early Letters About Graves, 04/10/1914-10/05/1915 |
| Biographical Note | Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, CH PC QC was a British statesman, lawyer, and creator of the League of Nations.
Lord Robert Cecil was born on 14 September 1864. He was educated at Eton and University College, Oxford. He served as secretary to his father from 1886-1888 before he was called to the Bar (Inner Temple) in 1887. In 1889, Cecil married Lady Eleanor Lambton, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Durham. He was a Conservative MP for East Marylebone from 1906-1910.
During the First World War, as he was too old for military service, Robert Cecil worked for the Red Cross, running its office in Paris and helping register soldiers' graves. From 1915-1916, he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, then appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1918. From 1916-1918 he was Minister of Blockade.
Following the publication of the Commission’s reports by Kipling and Kenyon, Cecil represented the view against the Commission’s principles and strongly opposed uniformity of headstones during the debate at the House of Commons on 4 May 1920.
Cecil was one of the creators of the League of Nations and a keen supporter for its existence. In 1937, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in its establishment.
He died on 24 November 1958, aged 94. |
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