Sol Gareth "Garry" Davis (27 July 1921 – 24 July 2013) was an international peace activist best known for
renouncing his American citizenship and interrupting the United Nations in 1948 to advocate for world government as a way to end nationalistic wars.
Davis renounced his citizenship of the United States in May 1948 at the American Embassy in Paris, France, declaring himself instead a citizen of the world.
Davis, a
World Federalist
World federalism or global federalism is a political ideology advocating a democratic, federal world government. A world federation would have authority on issues of global reach, while the members of such a federation would retain authority ove ...
, founded the non-profit
World Service Authority
The World Service Authority (WSA), founded in 1953 by Garry Davis, is a non-profit organization that claims to educate about and promote "world citizenship", "world law", and world government. It is best known for selling unofficial fantasy d ...
in 1953 to educate and promote
World government
World government is the concept of a single political authority governing all of Earth and humanity. It is conceived in a variety of forms, from tyrannical to democratic, which reflects its wide array of proponents and detractors.
There has ...
. The World Service Authority issues "world government documents", such as the
World Passport
The World Passport is a fantasy travel document sold by the World Service Authority, a non-profit organization founded by Garry Davis in 1954. , a
fantasy travel document based on his interpretation of Article 13(2),
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...
, and the concept of
world citizenship
The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...
. Previously, Davis had worked as a Broadway stage actor and understudy for
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; ; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire novelty songs.
Kaye starred ...
. He served as an American bomber pilot in
World War II
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 ...
.
Early life and education
Davis was born in
Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor () is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. The town is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory, and MDI Biological Laborat ...
(U.S.), to
Meyer
Meyer may refer to:
People
*Meyer (surname), listing people so named
* Meyer (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name
Companies
* Meyer Burger, a Swiss mechanical engineering company
* Meyer Corporation
* Meyer Sound Labo ...
and Hilda (née Hodgkins) Davis.
His parents were Jewish and Irish, respectively. He graduated from
The Episcopal Academy
The Episcopal Academy, founded in 1785, is a private, co-educational school for grades Pre-K through 12 based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Prior to 2008, the main campus was located in Merion Station and the satellite campus was located in ...
in 1940 and attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...
).
Career
Davis was a
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
actor who served as understudy for
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; ; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire novelty songs.
Kaye starred ...
and performed for him in the musical ''Let's Face It!''
He also played a leading role in the Broadway hit ''Three to Make Ready''.
Davis served in the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
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 ...
as
B-17 bomber
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...
pilot.
Advocacy for world government
Pained by his own brother's war death and the death he caused other families by bombing the city of Brandenburg in World War II, and fearful that nuclear war could terminate humanity, Davis's
relinquishment of United States nationality
Under United States federal law, a United States nationality law, U.S. citizen or national may voluntarily and intentionally give up that status and become an alien (law), alien with respect to the United States. Relinquishment is distinct from d ...
in 1948 led him to declare himself a "citizen of the world". He mentioned
Henry Martyn Noel
Henry Martyn Noel Jr. was a former American citizen who moved to Allied-occupied Germany in the aftermath of World War II and voluntarily made himself stateless in order to protest "a climax of nationalism" he saw rising around him in the Unite ...
, who had renounced a few months earlier, as one of his inspirations.
In France, his "Garry Davis Council of Solidarity" support committee was co-founded by writers
Albert Camus
Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...
,
André Breton
André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...
, and
Claude Bourdet
Claude Bourdet (28 October 1909 – 20 March 1996) was a writer, journalist, polemist, and militant French politician.
Personal life
Bourdet was a son of the dramatic author Édouard Bourdet and the poet Catherine Pozzi, was born and died in ...
, and
Emmaus movement originator
Abbé Pierre
Abbé Pierre (born Henri Marie Joseph Grouès; 5 August 191222 January 2007) was a French Catholic priest. He was a member of the Resistance (France), Resistance during World War II and deputy of the Popular Republican Movement. In 1949, he foun ...
, as well as Robert Sarrazac, a former leader of the French Résistance who joined Davis in founding the Citoyens du monde (World Citizens movement).
Davis interrupted a
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...
session on 19 November 1948, "We, the people, want the peace which only a world government can give," he proclaimed. "The sovereign states you represent divide us and lead us to the abyss of total war."
Along with his support committee, he rallied over 15,000 people in Paris to demand that the UN recognize the rights of Humanity. In her ''My Day'' column,
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...
ridiculed his stunts as "flash-in-the-pan publicity."
Davis founded the International
Registry of World Citizens in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in January 1949, registering over 750,000 individuals. On September 4, 1953, Davis formed an organisation, the World Government of World Citizens, with the stated aim of furthering fundamental human rights.
He additionally formed the
World Service Authority
The World Service Authority (WSA), founded in 1953 by Garry Davis, is a non-profit organization that claims to educate about and promote "world citizenship", "world law", and world government. It is best known for selling unofficial fantasy d ...
in 1954 as the government's executive and administrative agency, which issues its own fantasy passports – along with fantasy birth and other certificates – to customers. Davis first used his
World Passport
The World Passport is a fantasy travel document sold by the World Service Authority, a non-profit organization founded by Garry Davis in 1954. on a trip to
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
in 1956 and was allegedly admitted into some countries using it.
Davis ran for mayor in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, in 1986 as the "World Citizen Party" candidate, receiving 585 votes. He also declared himself the World Citizen Party candidate for the 1988 US presidential election. Davis published multiple books in favor of his cause of world citizenship.
At the 1992
Earth Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio de Janeiro Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92, Cúpula da Terra), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 ...
in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
, Davis issued and disbursed a world currency based on kilowatt-hours of solar power produced, an idea proposed by
Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...
. These "kilowatt dollars" were the earliest documented
emissions reduction currency.
In March 2012, at age 90, Davis began broadcasting a weekly radio show, "World Citizen Radio", on the Global Radio Alliance.
Attempts to help Julian Assange and Edward Snowden
In 2012, Davis sent
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by ...
founder
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of News leak, leaks from Chels ...
a World Passport. Only weeks before he died, Davis sent a World Passport to whistleblower
Edward Snowden
Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is a former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence contractor and whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs.
Born in 1983 in Elizabeth ...
in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
in care of the Russian authorities.
Death
Davis entered
hospice
Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...
care on 18 July 2013, and died six days later in the municipality of
South Burlington, Vermont
South Burlington is a city in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Along with neighboring Burlington, it is a principal city of the Burlington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,292, making it the sec ...
, three days shy of his 92nd birthday. He was survived by a daughter from his first marriage, Kristina Starr Davis; two sons, Troy and Kim; and a daughter, Athena Davis from his third marriage; as well as two siblings and a granddaughter.
Critics
The German History advisor Julian Pastor challenged the legitimacy of Davis' claimed Master's from an East-West University.
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
References
Further reading
* ''Views from My Space'' (2009)
*
World Peace Is You' (ebook)
* ''Views From My Space''Book II (2011)
* ''World Citizen Garry Davis Goes to Court'' (2011)
"What's a World Passport?"Daniel Engber, Slate Magazine. Accessed 25 March 2006.
INS, 481 F. Supp. 1178 (D.D.C. 1979) Accessed 4 November 2006.
External links
*
created by Davis
Short documentary clip about Garry's lifeLIFE magazine article, 24 January 1949Kilowatt dollar explained*
Garry Davis – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDBLet's Face It! – Broadway Musical – Original - IBDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Garry
1921 births
2013 deaths
American male stage actors
American anti-war activists
United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II
People who renounced United States citizenship
Stateless people
People from Bar Harbor, Maine
Male actors from Maine
Carnegie Mellon University alumni
Candidates in the 1988 United States presidential election
World federalist activists
Writers about globalization
Activists from Maine