HUGH S. GIBSON DIES AT GENEVA; VETERAN DIPLOMAT, RELIEF AID

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000300210042-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 2, 2000
• Sequence Number: 42
• Publication Date: December 13, 1964
• Content Type: NSPR

'Release 2000/92 :"CDP75-00001 R000300210042-6
iS.QlbsoniesaLGena;pyRGHT
ver was chairman. In the eight'
eteran:Dtplomat, Relief Aide months b%eei} the end of the
fighting a3td the signing of the'
Foreign Service Officer 3
Years, 71, Led Committee
on European Migration
By The Associated Press.
GENEVA, Switzerland, Dec. 12
-Hugh S. Gibson, retired United
States diplomat and director of
the Intergovernmental .Commit
tee for European Migration, died
this morning at the age of 71.
The veteran diplomat, who had
served the United States at many
posts throughout the world and
had represented his country at
dozens of international confer-
ences, succumbed to a heart at-
tack at about 9 o'clock at his
home outside Geneva.
Mr. Gibson's son, Michael, who
was on a visit to Paris, returned
to Geneva.
, Although suffering from a
broken bone in his foot and able
to move about only in a wheel-
chair, Mr. Gibson had presided
at the principal sessions of his
committee's semi-annual meeting
ten days ago. He told the open-
ning session of the twenty-four-
nation group that European po-1 Hugh Simons Gibson was born
Ilitical and economic stability fort in Los Angeles on Aug. 16, 1883.
,the next ten Year could be shs-LHe was a son of Frank Gibson
sured only through the emigra- and Mary Simons Gibson. His
tion of 5,000,000 Earopeans. father was a Scottish-born bank
cashier.
Mr. Gibson received his pre-
During forty-six years in inter- ~ liminary educ&tion from private
national affairs, Mr. Gibson rep- itutors and completed courses in
resented the United States onthe Ecole Libre des Sciences
many important and dramatiq Politiques in Paris in 1907. His
occasions. first post in the Foreign Serv-
g
n
The New York Times, 1952
Hugh S. Gibson
final treaty of peace, Mr. Gibson
and Mr. Hoover had distributed
nearly 5,000,000 tons of food-
stuffs.
In addition to his duties with
Mr. Hoover, Mr. Gibson served on
an inter-Allied commission that
report on the condition of the
war-ravaged Balkans.
In 1919 Mr. Gibson was ap-
pointed Minister to Poland, a post'
that called for more relief admin-
istration work than diplomacy
during the formative years of the
new republic.
From 1924 to 1927 Mr. Gibson
was Minister to Switzerland, then
a key post because of the pres-
ence in Geneva of the headquar-
ters of the League of Nations.
In this capacity Mr. Gibson
served with several delegations
studying international disarma-1
ment. He was chairman of the;
American delegation to the meet-
ing of the Preparatory Commis
sion for Disarmament at Geneva
in 192g.
In this and other similar duties
Mr. Gibson took a lead in move-!,
ments to reduce armaments, but
these -efforts for the most part'
were n,t entirely successful. In
that same year he was chairman !
his State Department assign-'to the United States delegation l
his the Conference for Limitation,
ments were made to areas in of Naval Rearmament, whicn
which this training could be had wider, if more controversial,
seful. results.
ice was that of secretary at the
le
atio
in 'T'egucigalpa, Hon-
. "' duras, in 1908.
Brussels, Belgium, he took part ? From 1911 to 1913, he was
with Brand Whitlock, Unitedsecretary atithe legation in Ha-
States Minister, and others in efJ vana and, while acting as charge
forts to save the life of Miss d'affaires there; was the center
Edith Cavell, a 50-year-old Brit- of an international incident. Mr.
Gibson hied beencalled upon to
ish nurse who had been shot by adjudicate a, commercial matter
the Germans for acts inimical to between Cuban and American in-
their invading army early interests. Enrique Maya, a ..Cuban
World War I.
On the night of Oct. 12, 1915
during Miss Cavell's last hours
believed Mr. Gibson's decision in
this matter had been an insult to
Cuba and bought out Mr. Gibson
Mr. Gibson and the Spanish Min-I and struck him in the face.
ister, the Marquis de Villalobarl The Cuban Government tried
sought in vain to convince Baro to avoid action in the matter,
but the United States insisted
von der Lancken, the German upon the punishment of Maza,
political officer-in Belgium, thatlwho served twenty months in
that proved well-founded. ,War I, Mr. Gilson .became first''
From this time until his death,isecretafy to the United States
Mr. Gibson held many and varied Embassy in Paris toward the
posts in the United States diplo-i close of the war. 'He left this
mat'. service and with organza. post in 1918 when Congress ap-
tions having a semi-official gov propriated $100,000,000 to.eatab-
ernmenta standing. n Worl~1}~ the A ppe~rr ijii
War I an MF~ralF~i61"Se OV0 cet
ed with Herbert Hoover in inter1tain European countries. He JEarl of Abingdon of England.
national relief work, and many of served as director general of this Mrs. Gibson died on March 19,
}organization, of which Mr. Hoo- 1 osn .!
He returned to Belgium PS,
Ambassador in 1927., He held this
Positiotii until 1$;.3 and was re-
turned to it by President Frank-
lin D. Roosevel tin 1937. He re-
fsired from the post the next.ybar.
Early in his tenure as Ambas-
sador to Belgium, he was a dele-
gate
Geneva two years later as tx"ct-
ing chairman of the Disarma-
ment Conference.
In the period bet`veen his two
terms as envoy to Belgium, Mr.
Gibson was Ambassador to Bra-
zil. While in this post, he served
as the United States representa-1
tive on a mediation group that
ended the seven-,year-old Chaco,
War between Bolivia and Para=i
quay.
Mr. Gibson retired from the!
Foreign Service in 1938. His long
experience in relief work later re-
sulted in his appointment to the
Migration committee. Until his
death, he directed the work of the
semi-official organization, which
seeks to develop opportunities for
immigrants from Europe to go to
places where they can make solid
ntributions to modern life.
Mr Gibson was the author of a
number of books on international
affairs. On several occasions hen
collaborated with Mr. Hoover'
in serialized I agazine articles, l
which later appeared in book!
form.
In 1922,,' Mr. Gibson married
Mlle. Ynes Reyntiens, a daughter
of Maj. Nicholap Reytntiens of the
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