Luis Padilla Nervo (19 August 1894 – 9 September 1985) was a Mexican

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and diplomat. He was the first Mexican Ambassador at the United Nations,

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

and President of the Sixth Session of

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

Career

He studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

. He also did postgraduate work at American, French, and British

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

. Luis Padilla Nervo represented Mexico during the

San Francisco Conference The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, Calif ...

in 1945 and signed the

United Nations Charter The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the ...

. In addition, he was the first Mexican Ambassador at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

; in that position, he was a member of the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

. During the sixth session, he was president of the

. Padilla Nervo was also ambassador to El Salvador,

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, Costa Rica, and Denmark. In the Mexican public administration, he served in the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

, the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

and the

Ministry of Labor The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

. At the finish of his commission in the Permanent Mission of Mexico in United Nations, he was elected as judge of the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

(ICJ) for the period 1964 to 1973. He became the second Mexican to serve at the ICJ, after

Isidro Fabela José Isidro Fabela Alfaro (28 June 1882 – 12 August 1964) was a Mexican judge, politician, professor, writer, publisher, governor of the State of Mexico, diplomat, and delegate to the now defunct League of Nations. Fabela was born in Atl ...

. In 1980, he was awarded the

Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor The Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor (Spanish: ''Medalla de Honor "Belisario Domínguez" del Senado de la República'') is the highest award bestowed by the Mexican Senate. It forms part of the Mexican Honors System and is currently Mexico's ...

for his contributions "toward the welfare of the Nation and mankind". Nervo authored one book published in 1985 titled ''Testimonios de 40 años de presencia de México en las Naciones Unidas.''

Books

''Testimonios de 40 años de presencia de México en las Naciones Unidas,''

References

External links

Official web of Mexican Permanent Mission at United Nations (spanish)
Mexican Secretaries of Foreign Affairs Mexican judges International Court of Justice judges Permanent Representatives of Mexico to the United Nations Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly People from Zamora, Michoacán Politicians from Michoacán 1894 births 1985 deaths Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Mexican judges of United Nations courts and tribunals {{Mexico-law-bio-stub