Madanjeet Singh

Madanjeet Singh was bom on 16 April 1924 in Lahore, present-day Pakistan. A well known painter and a distinguished photographer, he is an internationally known author of several books on art and other subjects, closely interwoven with UNESCO's programmes, principles and ideals. During Mahatma Gandhi's 'Quit India' movement in 1942 against colonial rule, Madanjeet Singh was imprisoned. He migrated to the newly partitioned India in 1947, worked in a refugee camp, won an Italian scholarship in 1950, and joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1953. He served as Ambassador in Asia, South America, Africa and Europe before joining UNESCO in Paris in 1982. In recognition of his lifelong devotion to the cause of communal harmony and peace, the biennial 'UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence' was unanimously created by the 52-member UNESCO Executive Board at their meetings in Paris and Fez (16 May to 4 June 1995), marking the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. In 2000, he was designated as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador on the United Nations' International Day of Tolerance.