Obituary Arthur Gillette

by Nigel Watt (May 31, 2016)

In May Arthur Gillette, a longstanding activist for international volunteering passed away. He started as SCI volunteer in 1958. In 1963 he become CCIVS director and later director of the Youth department in UNESCO.

 

 

 

I first heard of Arthur when I bought One Million Volunteers and I was proud of what he wrote about the early pioneers of SCI. I next encountered him when I attended the CCIVS General Conference at Tema, Ghana in 1974. By that time he was already working for UNESCO and I remember being impressed by his perfect French! In the meantime, in 1961-63 he had worked together with Glyn Roberts* at CCIVS. They took it in turns to be called Executive Secretary and General Secretary and they lived together in a houseboat moored in the River Seine. And he loved sailing, going as far as the coast of England. When I came to CCIVS as Director myself I found Arthur as Head of the Youth Division and as sympathetic as ever to the international voluntary service movement. I proposed two training seminars in Africa (in Lesotho and in Namibia in 1993) and he found the money for both. He continued to support CCIVS publications and to give wise advice. In the sometimes harsh world of UN politics, I think he remained an idealist who believed in what UNESCO stood for and that is what he worked for.

 

Nigel Watt

 

Read more about Arthur Gilllette

• Gillette Arthur In: Breaking down barriers. Paris (2008)
• A.Gillette: One Million volunteers. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth/Middleesex UK (1968). Read online version

 

* Glyn Roberts passed away recently as well.