John Bowers (diplomat)
| John Bowers | |
|---|---|
 Bowers speaking into a microphone at a 1954 UNESCO event in Mysore, India | |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Diplomat, wildlife photographer  |
| Branch | Sudan Defence Force |
John Bowers (November 27, 1912 – October 11, 2004) was a British diplomat and head of fundamental education at UNESCO for 20 years from 1947.[1] He was the architect of UNESCO's activities worldwide in literacy and adult education.[2]
John Bowers was the son of Basil Bowers, headmaster of Cheltenham College Junior School, and was educated at Cheltenham College and Trinity College, Oxford.
While still at school, he took up an interest in bird photography and had pictures published in Country Life.[3]
After postgraduate courses in Arabic, Islamic Culture, Anthropology and Law, he joined the Sudan Political Service in 1935. Three years later, he married Sheila Tinson, with whom he lived among the Dinka people of the southern Sudan. One night his tent was shredded by a Lion—though at the time he was not in it.[3]
During World War II he was seconded to the , based at Kufra oasis. Later he fought in Ethiopia with the and in the Libyan desert, where he was badly wounded. An out-of-body experience during a subsequent operation gave Bowers a lifelong interest in mysticism. He was private secretary to Lord Moyne, the British Minister Resident in the Middle East, who was murdered by the Stern Gang in 1944. Following the war he joined UNESCO, at the request of Sir Julian Huxley, where he worked in adult education, agriculture and literacy in Africa, India, South-East Asia and Central America. Bowers was a vigorous supporter of the Third World through the United Nations. He inducted qualified educationists from the so-called Third World countries to the UNICEF, who later on contributed immensely to their respective countries in the field of education, such as Mushtaq Ahmed Azmi, who is considered as one of the pioneers in the field of Adult Education in India
References[]
- ^ [1] Jones, Phillip Worner. International Policies for Third World Education. Taylor & Francis, 1988. ISBN 0-415-00445-4. P. 52
- ^ S Spaulding. Distance Education, Broadcast Media, Virtual Reality, and Cyberspace: Is the Future Passing Us By? Comparative Education Review. University of Chicago Press, 2002
- ^ a b Eric Hosking; Harold Lowes (1947), Masterpieces of Bird Photography, William Collins, Sons, p. 34, ASIN B000O8CPQK, Wikidata Q108533626
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- 1912 births
- 2004 deaths
- Sudan Political Service officers
- Nature photographers
- British government biography stubs