Nils Emil Thedin (10 March 1911 in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

– 1 February 1989) was a Swedish businessman and civic leader.

Education

Nils Thedin qualified in philosophy in 1934, then worked as a teacher at Vårgårda 1935-1937.

Kooperativa Förbundet

Thedin then secured a position at the International Labor Office in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

1937-1939, then became a member of the Kooperativa Förbundet's (KF) secretariat 1940-1944, editor-in-chief of the organisation's magazine '' Vi'' magazine1945-1959, deputy head of KF's organizational department 1958 –1969 and head of KF's publicity department 1963–1969.

International service

From 1951 and from 1947 he was Vice President of the Swedish branch of

Save the Children International Save the Children International, formerly known as the International Save The Children Alliance, is a worldwide non-profit organization that aims to improve the living of children. There are 30 Save the Children member organizations around the wo ...

, then was a board member of the International Cooperative Alliance 1947–1981, concurrently serving as Chairman of

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

at the international level from 1970 to 1972. Thedin joined the board of the

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency ( sv, Styrelsen för internationellt utvecklingssamarbete, ) is a government agency of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Sida is responsible for organization of the bulk of Swede ...

in 1963 and was Chairman of the publishing company Liber from 1964. He was also Chairman of

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is d ...

from 1967, chairman of the Correspondence School 1969–1976, for the board of the East Asian Museum 1970–1977, for the Swedish Handicrafts Association 1968–1970, for the Swedish Coop Center 1976–1978, vice-chairman of the Norwegian State Museums of Art 1977–1979,

International Union for Child Welfare The International Save the Children Union (french: L’Union Internationale de Secours aux Enfants) was a Geneva-based international organisation of children's welfare organisations founded in 1920 by Eglantyne Jebb and her sister Dorothy Buxton, wh ...

1977–1978, chairman of the working committee for International children's year 1978–1979, and project manager for the International Labor Office in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

1979 -1984.

Publications

Thedin published ''Råvaruproblemet och freden'' ('Commodities: The problem in peacetime') in 1944, and ''Inlägg. Ledare, porträtt och reseskisser utgivna till författarens femtioårsdag den 10 mars 1961'' ('Posts. Editorials, portraits and travel sketches issued for the author's fiftieth birthday, 10 March 1961') in 1961.

Awards

Thedin was awarded the

Illis quorum ''Illis quorum'' (''Illis quorum meruere labores'') (English: "For Those Whose Labors Have Deserved It"), is a gold medal awarded for outstanding contributions to Swedish culture, science or society. The award was introduced in 1784 by King Gust ...

in 1986 for "long-standing and significant efforts for the world's children".

Personal life

Nils Thedin married Carin Eberstein, daughter of Gösta Eberstein, in 1942.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thedin, Nils Chairmen and Presidents of UNICEF 1911 births 1989 deaths Swedish diplomats Swedish officials of the United Nations Recipients of the Illis quorum