Description:

A graduate from Columbia University with a Ph.D. in international law and diplomacy in 1912, Wellington Koo (顧維鈞) witnessed and participated in many historical international events in the Republic of China. He was China’s plenipotentiary to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, where he made a decision that would steer the history of China and leave his mark on world history by refusing to sign the Treaty of Versailles; served as the Ambassador to France, Great Britain and the United States; was a participant in the founding of the League of Nations and the United Nations; and sat as a judge on the International Court of Justice in The Hague from 1957 to 1967. Between October 1926 and June 1927, while serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Koo briefly held the concurrent positions of acting Premier and interim President of the Republic of China. While his presidency was brief, his extraordinary lifespan of 97 years makes him the longest-lived person to ever have led China. At this lecture, Prof. Jin Guangyao of Fudan University and the author of the Biography of Wellington Koo will discuss Koo’s distinguished career in diplomacy and his contribution to help abolish unequal treaties imposed on China and protect China’s rights and interests. Registration required. 40 Rector St.