Poul Hartling; Danish Prime Minister, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees

Poul Hartling, 85, former prime minister of Denmark who became the United Nations high commissioner for refugees and received the 1981 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the group. The son of two teachers, Hartling grew up in Copenhagen a sickly youngster who was often confined to bed. He developed a deep interest in religion as a youth, later becoming a Church of Denmark minister and principal of a seminary. During the Nazi occupation of Denmark during World War II he joined the resistance, running anti-Nazi printing presses and helping 6,000 Danish Jews escape from the Nazis. He founded the Danish Refugee Council after the 1956 Soviet crackdown on Hungarians seeking political freedom sent refugees into Scandinavia. Hartling joined the Liberal Party and was its chairman and a member of Parliament before serving as prime minister from 1973 to 1975. In bestowing the 1981 Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee commended the U.N. high commission for continuing its work “despite the many political difficulties with which it has to contend.” Once describing his job as “protector of all the refugees in the world,” Hartling was responsible for resettling millions of refugees displaced by war, revolution and other crises, including the Vietnam War, unrest in Africa and Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. He donated the $180,000 prize to establish a fund for what he called “doubly disabled” refugees--the crippled and sick. On Sunday in Copenhagen.