Adriaan Pelt (8 May 1892 – 11 April 1981) was a Dutch journalist, international civil servant and diplomat, most famous for drafting the post war constitution of

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. As a reporter for the newspaper

De Telegraaf ''De Telegraaf'' (; ) is the largest Netherlands, Dutch daily morning newspaper. Haro Kraak,Gaat Paul Jansen de crisis bij De Telegraaf oplossen?, ''de Volkskrant'', 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015. Paul Jansen has been the editor-in-chief since ...

he lived during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in London and Paris. There he studied diplomacy at the

École Libre des Sciences Politiques Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

. He married a Frenchwoman. From 1920 to 1940 he worked as an adviser to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

and from 1934 as head of information. He visited many of the inter-war trouble spots in the world, such as Manchuria and India. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was head of the Government Press Office, later

Netherlands Government Information Service The Netherlands Government Information Service (''Dutch:'' Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst, abbrev.: RVD) is a Dutch government agency. The RVD is the official information service of the Dutch government and is the spokesbody for the prime minister, th ...

(RVD, Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst now), in London. There he founded the Anep Aneta-on, the free counterpart to the

Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau The Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau BV (ANP) is the largest news agency in the Netherlands. ANP was founded on 11 December 1934 by the association of Dutch newspapers (NDP). The news agency's founders sought to produce a fast, fair and accurate ...

(ANP) in the occupied territories. He started radio Orange Brandaris broadcasting Dutch programs to the occupied territories using English channels. And he also helped monitor the Dutch Radio news. In 1945 he went San Francisco with the Dutch delegation to help draft the

United Nations Charter The Charter of the United Nations is the foundational treaty of the United Nations (UN). It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the United Nations System, UN system, including its United Nations System#Six ...

. Early 1946 following his election as Under-Secretary-General, under

Trygve Lie Trygve Halvdan Lie ( , ; 16 July 1896 – 30 December 1968) was a Norwegians, Norwegian politician, labour leader, government official and author. He served as Norwegian foreign minister during the critical years of the Nygaardsvold's Cabinet, N ...

, he was responsible for UN conferences and general services, and later for European issues. On 10 December 1949 he was appointed High Commissioner for

by the UN. He was the last of the colonial heads of Libya. He brought together the English regions of

Tripolitania Tripolitania (), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya. The region had been settled since antiquity, first coming to prominence as part of the Carthaginian empire. Following the defeat ...

and

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika (, , after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between the 16th and 25th meridians east, including the Kufra District. The coastal region, als ...

, with the French region of

Fezzan Fezzan ( , ; ; ; ) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise in ...

to form a Libyan state, before its independence on 1 January 1952. He successfully brought together the tribes and peoples from the three regions, they helped with administration and drawing up a constitution. The mutual distrust of the people who had to form the new state was great. Even so, Pelt timely drafting of a constitution, and on 24 December he transferred state power to King Idris. He returned to the headquarters of the UN, and from 1952 until his retirement in 1957 was director of the European Office of the UN in Geneva. Adriaan Pelt became very popular in Libya, and a main street in

Benghazi Benghazi () () is the List of cities in Libya, second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, Ben ...

is named after him.

Publications (selection)

* Adrian Pelt: ''Libyan independence and the United Nations. A case of planned decolonization'' (Foreword by U Thant). Yale University Press, New Haven, 1970. * Ismail Raghib Khalidi: ''Constitutional development in Libya'' (Foreword by A. Pelt). Beirut, 1956. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pelt, Adriaan 1892 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Dutch diplomats People from Zaanstad 20th-century Dutch journalists