Sir John Shaw Rennie (12 January 1917 – 12 August 2002) was a British civil servant and the

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians displaced by the 1948 P ...

's Commissioner-General from 1971 to 1977.Benjamin N. Schiff, ''Refugees Unto the Third Generation: UN Aid to Palestinians'', (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995), p. 293.

Early life

John Rennie was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and educated at

Hillhead High School Hillhead High School is a day school in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oakfield Avenue, neighbouring the University of Glasgow. Admissions It is one of the largest schools in Glasgow. History Grammar school Until 1972 it was a co-educational selectiv ...

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and Balliol College, Oxford. In 1951 Rennie was appointed Britain's deputy colonial secretary for

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

.RENNIE, Sir John Shaw
''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2010 He was the British

Resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceuti ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

from 1955 to 1962. From 1962 to 1968 he was Governor of Mauritius, overseeing Mauritius' transition to independence. From 1968 to 1971 Rennie was UNRWA deputy Commissioner-General under

Laurence Michelmore Laurence Michelmore (1909 – April 10, 1997) was UNRWA's Commissioner-General from 1964 to 1971. Michelmore had been senior director of the UN's Technical Assistance Board, deputy director of personnel, and administrative consultant of the UN Spec ...

, who persuaded then-U.N. Secretary-General

U Thant Thant (; ; January 22, 1909 – November 25, 1974), known honorifically as U Thant (), was a Burmese diplomat and the third secretary-general of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, the first non-Scandinavian to hold the position. He held t ...

to appoint Rennie as his successor.Around the World
, 3 October 2002

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rennie, John Shaw 1917 births 2002 deaths Governors of British Mauritius Governors-General of Mauritius Colonial Administrative Service officers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Officers of the Order of the British Empire UNRWA officials Resident Commissioners of the New Hebrides (United Kingdom) British officials of the United Nations