John Douglas Lloyd Hood (31 May 1904 – 3 October 1991) was an Australian diplomat who served as Australia's second

permanent representative to the United Nations A permanent representative to the United Nations (sometimes called a "UN ambassador")"History of Ambassadors", United States Mission to the United Nations, March 2011, webpagUSUN-a. is the head of a country's diplomatic mission to the United Nati ...

and ambassador to Germany.

Early life and education

Hood was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

on 31 May 1904, the son of William Percy Hood and Alexandrina Douglas. His father was the head of the Tasmanian branch of the

Australian Mutual Provident Society AMP is a financial services company in Australia and New Zealand providing superannuation and investment products, financial advice, and banking products (through AMP Banking) including home loans and savings accounts. Its headquarters is in ...

and Hood was educated at Kyne College in Adelaide (1915–1917) and

The Hutchins School , motto_translation = Character lives after death , city = Hobart , state = Tasmania , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent, day & boarding , ...

Sandy Bay, Tasmania Sandy Bay is a suburb of the city of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, located immediately south of the central business district, and adjoining the suburb of Battery Point. Sandy Bay is bounded on the east by the Derwent River, and has several beac ...

(1918–1921). After taking a Bachelor of Arts at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...

, at age 21 Hood's academic success was recognised in 1926 with the award of being Tasmania's recipient of the

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

to study at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. Resident at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, Hood studied under

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

and took a First in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1929 and a Bachelor of Arts in 1930.

Diplomatic career

On graduating, Hood aspired to a career in Journalism and took a position with

The Times of London ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...

, where within a few years he was promoted to the post of a

sub-editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual of ...

. His work in the area of politics gained the attention of the Australian

Department of External Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

, which he joined in 1936 and took the role of liaison officer for the Department at the High Commission in London. In 1939 he was posted to

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

and served in various posts in the department, including periods acting as secretary of the department. Hood's first high-level posting was on 16 October 1945 when he was sent to

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

in the Netherlands to set up a new resident

legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, minister. Ambassadors diplomatic rank, out ...

chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

. After completing this posting by 1946, Hood acted as political adviser to the Australian Military Mission in Berlin and in 1947 was appointed to succeed

Paul Hasluck Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck, (1 April 1905 – 9 January 1993) was an Australian statesman who served as the 17th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1969 to 1974. Prior to that, he was a Liberal Party politician, holding min ...

as the second

Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the Permanent Mission of the Commonwealth of Australia to the United Nations ...

in New York City. As Australia served as a non-permanent member of the first

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

, Hood served on the council and as president of that body in December 1947. In January 1947 hood served on the United Nations Commission for Investigation of Greek Frontier Incidents (also first chairman) and later in May 1947 as Australia's representative on the

United Nations Special Committee on Palestine The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) was created on 15 May 1947 in response to a United Kingdom government request that the General Assembly "make recommendations under article 10 of the Charter, concerning the future govern ...

. Serving until 1950, Hood was then appointed on 22 April 1950 by Foreign Minister

Percy Spender Sir Percy Claude Spender (5 October 18973 May 1985) was an Australian politician, diplomat, and judge. He served in the House of Representatives from 1937 to 1951, including as a cabinet minister under Robert Menzies and Arthur Fadden. He was ...

as Australia's first Ambassador to Indonesia. The post was considered an important one, with '' The Advocate'' opining that Australia should be offer advice and technical assistance to the Sukarno Government as Indonesia was "suffering the growing pains of nationhood". Hood was recalled to Australia briefly in May 1950 to discuss matters relating to Indonesia's claim to western New Guinea and the death of an Australian pilot, John Doderick, who was fatally shot in Jakarta that month. Serving in Indonesia until 1952, Hood was appointed in September 1952 as Ambassador to Germany, on 4 September he presented to President

Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His cordial nature – something of a contrast to the stern character of chancellor Ko ...

. As ambassador in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, Hood also became the head of Australia's Military Mission in Berlin. In January 1955 Hood was awarded with the

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE). In 1956 Foreign Minister Richard Casey recalled Hood from Bonn to advise him on

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

matters. In 1957 he was elected President of the

United Nations Trusteeship Council The United Nations Trusteeship Council (french: links=no, Conseil de tutelle des Nations unies) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, established to help ensure that trust territories were administered in the best interests ...

. In March 1963 Hood was appointed as Ambassador to Israel, serving until his retirement from foreign service September 1964.

Later life and death

After his retirement, Hood spent his last years at

Le Bar-sur-Loup Le Bar-sur-Loup (, literally ''Le Bar on Loup (river), Loup''; oc, So Barn; it, Albarno) is a Communes of France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in southeastern France. Originally known simply as Le Bar, the co ...

in the south of France. Hood died in France on 3 October 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hood, John Douglas Lloyd 1904 births 1991 deaths The Times journalists Australian Rhodes Scholars Ambassadors of Australia to the Netherlands Ambassadors of Australia to Indonesia Ambassadors of Australia to Germany Ambassadors of Australia to Israel Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People from Adelaide Permanent Representatives of Australia to the United Nations University of Tasmania alumni Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford United Nations Trusteeship Council Australian officials of the United Nations 20th-century Australian journalists