Annan mourns passing of US professor who championed UN

Mourning the passing of Professor Louis B. Sohn, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today paid tribute to the late educator, who was present at the founding of the world body.

“Throughout his life he won wide respect as a voice of reason and source of wisdom, and was a firm believer in the importance of the United Nations and of the rule of law in settling international disputes,” Mr. Annan said in a statement issued by his spokesman.

Mr. Sohn, who passed away on 7 June at the age of 92, served as Professor of Law at Harvard and the University of Georgia, and was a member of the US delegation at the San Francisco conference of 1945, at which the United Nations Charter was drawn up. From 1974 to 1982 he was involved at the conference which drafted the International Convention on the Law of the Sea.