Bunche, Ralph Johnson (1904-1971), was an American statesman. In 1950, he became the first African American recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was appointed to the United Nations Palestine Commission in 1947 and worked with Count Folke Bernadotte on the Arab-Israeli dispute. After Bernadotte was assassinated, Bunche carried on the negotiations and arranged an armistice in 1949. He won the peace prize for this work.
Bunche was considered an authority on problems of colonialism. He began his diplomatic career in 1944 when he joined the Department of State. Bunche served as adviser or delegate to nine international conferences in four years. He helped lay the groundwork for the United Nations (UN). and, in 1946, became director of the division of trusteeships in the Secretariat. He was an undersecretary of the UN from 1955 to 1971.
Bunche was born in Detroit on Aug. 7, 1904. He worked his way through the University of California at Los Angeles and graduated in 1927. He received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1934. Bunche also studied in London and South Africa. He began teaching at Howard University in 1928. Bunche won the Spingarn Medal in 1949 (see Spingarn Medal ). He died on Dec. 9, 1971.
