The enigmatic Seán MacBride was born on this day in 1904 in Paris. MacBride was the son of renowned beauty Maude Gonne and executed 1916 revolutionary Major John MacBride. Both parents are commemorated in the poetry of William Butler Yeats, one adored, the other reviled.
Seán MacBride had one of the more diverse careers in public life, spanning ministerial duties in the Irish government, party political leader, IRA Chief of Staff, founder of Amnesty International, and human rights lawyer.
MacBride was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974 for his human rights work. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize the following year, one of only two men to share that distinction.
You can read more about Seán MacBride’s extraordinary life at the Dictionary of Irish Biography entry
