Chamberlain, Sir Austen (1863-1937), was a leading statesman in the United Kingdom who won the Nobel Prize for peace in 1925. Chamberlain was the oldest son of Joseph Chamberlain and the half-brother of Neville Chamberlain, who were also prominent British politicians (see Chamberlain, Neville ).
Joseph Austen Chamberlain was born in Birmingham, England. He graduated from Rugby School and from Cambridge University, where he attended Trinity College.
Chamberlain entered the British Parliament in 1892. Beginning in 1895, he held a variety of posts within the government, including chancellor of the exchequer, the United Kingdom’s chief financial officer.
Chamberlain was appointed secretary of state for India in 1915. He resigned in 1917 amid criticism of his handling of a failed military campaign during World War I (1914-1918). In 1918, he became a member of the War Cabinet in the coalition government led by David Lloyd George. From 1919 to 1921, Chamberlain held the post of chancellor of the exchequer for the second time. He led the Conservative Party from 1921 to 1923.
Chamberlain served as foreign secretary of the United Kingdom from 1924 to 1929. In 1925, he attended the Locarno Conference, which brought seven European nations together to resolve problems left over from World War I (see Locarno Conference ). Chamberlain, United States Vice President Charles G. Dawes, French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand, and German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann played especially significant roles. For their efforts, Chamberlain and Dawes received the Nobel Prize for peace in 1925, and Briand and Stresemann received the prize in 1926.
In 1929, King George V made Chamberlain a Knight of the Garter, the highest order of British knighthood. In 1931, he was appointed first lord of the Admiralty, the government department in charge of naval affairs.
