Conor

O'Brien is well known for his role in New York intellectual circles during the 1960s. Productive, acrimonious, and sometimes comic, his relationship with reigning intellectuals is part of a central chapter in American cultural history. His career in its entirety, though, could encompass several remarkable lives. Born in 1917 into an Ireland torn by nationalist passions, O'Brien was trained as a diplomat and rose to international prominence during the Belgian Congo crisis. As special representative for UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, O'Brien was caught in the middle of big power politics. After resigning in a furor, he wrote To Katanga and Back (1962), a classic in modern African history and still the only book to reveal how the UN works behind its marble facade. O'Brien then became Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana and waged a battle for academic freedom against one of the most amiable of tyrants, Kwame Nkrumah. Next, O'Brien held the Schweitzer Chair at New York University, where he wrote prolifically, developed an innovative program in literature and society, and served as a model of courageous political activism.