Szeming Sze

Szeming Sze (; April 5, 1908 – October 27, 1998) was a Chinese diplomat of the Republic of China and the co-founder who helped build the World Health Organization into a specialized United Nations agency.

Early life and education

Sze was born in Tianjin, Qing China. He was the eldest son of Alfred Sao-ke Sze, who became his country's Ambassador to Great Britain and, later, the United States.

He was educated at Winchester College and Christ's College, Cambridge (1925 to 1928), and received degrees in chemistry and medicine. He interned in Britain, where he was inspired by his residency at St. Thomas Hospital in a London slum to do public service, before returning to the Republic of China in 1934.

Career

Early years

He was in the United States when the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, and he joined the Lend-Lease program for the Chinese government. Sze attended the San Francisco Conference that gave birth to the United Nations as an official of the Chinese delegation and medical expert.

UN years Sze became chief of specialized agencies for the Eco-nomic & Social Council of the United Nations. He was greatly disappointed when he was later offered a job at WHO that he couldn't take because of his U.N. commitments.

He became U.N. medical director in 1954, taking care of the permanent staff of about 3000, including inoculating them and preparing them for missions abroad. He held the position for 20 years.

Reputation

In 1975, Henry van Zile Hyde, Chief of Health Division during the Truman Administration, said of Dr Sze “...[he] was the member of the Chinese delegation. His father had been the Chinese Ambassador to England and the United States. And Szeming Sze was a very brilliant Chinese”.

In 1998, at the 51st World Health Assembly, the Norwegian Minister of Health, Mr Dagfinn Høybråten, acknowledged Dr Szeming Sze as “one of the initiators of the WHO”. Mr Høybråten quoted Dr Sze as saying “Of course we can learn from history. We learn from the mistakes made if not from the successes. Learning the reasons why certain things happened often saves us from making the same mistakes again”.

Personal life and posterity Sze married to Bessie Li , a pianist in 1934 and he is survived by a daughter, Diane Wei ; a son, architect Chia-ming Sze ; two sisters, Julia Sze-Bailey, and Alice Wang; five grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren. Sze's granddaughter, Sarah Sze (born 1969) won a MacArthur "genius grant" in 2003 for her work as an installation artist. His grandson, David Sze, is a managing partner at the venture capital firm Greylock Partners.

Death

Sze died on October 27, 1998, at Presbyterian Senior Care, at Presbyterian Medical Center in suburban Pittsburgh at the age of 90.