David A. Morse

David Abner Morse, né David Abner Moscovitz (31 May 1907 – 1 December 1990) was an American bureaucrat who headed the International Labour Organization.

Background Born David Abner Moscovitz in New York on May 31, 1907, Morse graduated from Rutgers University in 1929, where he was a member of the Cap and Skull Society, and from the Harvard Law School in 1932. He was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1932. In 1937 Moscovitz changed his surname to Morse, "motivated by instances of anti-Semitic resentment he had experience in both his private and professional life." Morse married Mildred Edna Hockstader on May 13, 1937.

When war broke out, he gave up his law practice to join the army. From June 1943 to April 1944, Morse served as Captain in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, where he was appointed Chief of the Labor Division of the Allied Military Government (1945). He drafted and put into effect the labour policy and programme in Sicily and Italy for the British and United States Governments and armies. As Chief of the Labor Section of the US Group Control Council for Germany under Generals Eisenhower and Clay, he prepared the labor policy and program for Germany. Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, he was awarded the Legion of Merit for his army services in 1946.