Rennie, John Shaw

John Shaw Renny was born in Glasgow on January 12, 1917. When he was 10 years old, his mother died, and his father, a draftsman, emigrated to Canada , leaving John to raise his aunt in Glasgow. John was educated at Hillhead High School, University of Glasgow , where he studied French and German .

After joining the colonial administration, he was sent to Balliol College, Oxford , where he completed an annual course of study. In 1940 he was sent as a cadet to Tanganyika . In 1942, he was appointed assistant district officer, and in 1949 he became district officer. During this period, he studied Swahili and two tribal languages ​​of East Africa , and later learned to speak Italian fluently. In 1946, Rennie married Winifred Robertson, and later they had a son. In 1951, Rennie was appointed deputy minister of the British colonies for Mauritius. ^[1] From 1955 to 1962 he served as a British resident in Vanuatu ^[2] . From 1962 to 1968, he was governor of British Mauritius, and also monitored Mauritius's transition to independence.

From 1968 to 1971, Rennie was Deputy Lawrence Miquelmore, Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and convinced UN Secretary General U Thant to appoint Rennie as his successor. ^[3] John Shaw Renny served as Secretary General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East from 1971 to 1977 ^[4] . Its headquarters was located in Beirut and at his post he found the Doomsday War of 1973 and the Civil War in Lebanon .

In 1955, Rennie became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire , in 1958, Cavalier of the Order of St. Michael and St. George , in 1962 the Knight Commander and in 1968 the Knight of the Great Cross.

After retiring, Rennie and his wife lived in a house in Islington and another in a village in Umbria .

John Shaw Renny passed away on August 12, 2002. He left a wife and a son.

• Sir John Rennie