Herbert Claiborne Pell, Jr. (February 16, 1884 – July 17, 1961) was a United States Representative from New York, U.S. Minister to Portugal, U.S. Minister to Hungary, and an instigator and member of the United Nations War Crimes Commission.
Mr. Pell was an internationalist and progressive among a class of economic conservatives and geopolitical isolationists. He was the leading American seeking to build awareness of and prevent the Holocaust—and prosecute those responsible—as the principal U.S. sponsor and member of the United Nations War Crimes Commission. Mr. Pell had extensive first-hand experience in international affairs, having lived many years in Europe. He also served on the advisory committee of Yenching University, later merged with Peking University.
Born in New York City, he was a great-grandson of John Francis Hamtramck Claiborne, great-great-grandnephew of William Charles Cole Claiborne and Nathaniel Herbert Claiborne. Through his mother, Katherine Lorillard Kernochan, he inherited a share of the Lorillard fortune. His descendants include U.S. Senator Claiborne de Borda Pell and Herbert Claiborne Pell IV. He was educated at Pomfret School (Connecticut), Harvard University, and Columbia University, New York City. He married Matilda, daughter of Nelson Pendleton Bigelow.
Pell's political career began as a member of the Progressive committee of Orange County, New York (1912 to 1914). He was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1919-March 3, 1921) and was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1920 to the Sixty-seventh Congress. He was chairman of the Democratic State committee from 1921 to 1926 and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1924. Pell was an occasional lecturer at Columbia University, Harvard University, and other institutions of learning, and in 1936 was vice chairman of the Democratic National Campaign Committee.
Pell was appointed from Rhode Island as Minister to Portugal, holding that office from May 27, 1937, until February 11, 1941, when he was appointed Minister to Hungary. He was serving in Budapest on December 13, 1941 when received the Hungarian declaration of war against the United States. He closed the legation in Budapest and returned to the U.S. on January 16, 1942 and submitted his resignation on November 30, 1942. He was United States representative on the United Nations War Crimes Commission from August 1943 to January 1945, and in 1961 died in Munich, Germany.
His remains were cremated and the ashes committed to the ocean off Beavertail (Jamestown, Rhode Island)
Contents |
Herbert Claiborne Pell, “Preparing for the Next War,” American Mercury, v. 23, no.92 (August 1931) 455-463.
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John F. Carew |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 17th congressional district 1919–1921 |
Succeeded by Ogden L. Mills |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by William W. Farley |
New York State Democratic Committee Chairman July 1921 – January 1926 |
Succeeded by Edwin Corning |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by Robert Granville Caldwell |
U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Portugal 1937–1941 |
Succeeded by Bert Fish |
| Preceded by John Flournoy Montgomery |
U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Hungary 1941 |
Succeeded by None – Legation closed December 1941 |