You’ve heard of Amnesty International — its founder, Peter Benenson, was born July 31 in London. He was born Peter Solomon, but adopted his mother’s maiden name as an adult, following the dying wishes of his grandfather.
Benenson began his humanitarian work early; when he was 16 he created a relief fund for children orphaned by the Spanish Civil War. He enrolled in college, but World War II intervened and he wored in the Intelligence Corps — he was a cryptographer at Bletchley Park. After the war he became a lawyer (or barrister, since he was in England), and in 1957, with some other lawyer,s founded the human rights organization “JUSTICE.” Although it’s always printed in all caps, it’s not an acronym. JUSTICE is still around, and now is the British section of an international law organization, the International Commission of Jurists. It’s a worldwide coalition of human-rights lawyers and judges.
In 1961 Benenson read a newspaper story about two people in Portugal who had been imprisoned for criticizing the ruling party, which at the time was the authoritarian Estado Novo regime. His first response was to write an article in The Observer titled The Forgotten Prisoners. It urged people to write letters in support of people imprisoned because of political or religious beliefs. The response was enormous, and Benenson joined with some others to found Amnesty International to coordinate the efforts. By the end of they year it had been established in more than a dozen countries.
Benenson led Amnesty International until 1966, when the organization’s investigation into torture either performed or supported by the British government was somewhat mysteriously suppressed. He accused the government of infiltrating Amnesty International in order to subvert its operations, and resigned. Another investigation didn’t turn up any evidence of government interference, but Benenson never returned to the organization.
Benenson continued to work privately on humanitarian issues for the next decades, until his death at 83. He almost always avoided any personal recognition or awards, but in 2001 his family convinced him to accept the Pride of Britain award for his lifetime achievement. And his organizations are still going strong.
