I first met Arvid Pardo in 1954 when he was quite high up in the hierarchy of the United Nations, and then acted as assistant to Mr. Dag Hammarskjold, the secretary general of the world organization.
He had already been approached by a local politician to pass certain information which the United Kingdom was then obliged to provide in respect of its colonies and, particularly, regarding Malta. But, due to his sensitive post, he could not concur with the request he had received.
Pardo continued to follow the vicissitudes of our island in the quest for independence. When, eventually, the shackles of colonialism were thrown overboard, he wished to share in the future destiny of the country.
His family originated in Malta. Towards the end of the First World War, his father, a medical doctor, was appointed by a world organization to head a team in Russia where epidemics were rampant.
He took up the task, well knowing the risks. He entrusted Arvid, barely four, to a good friend of his.
His father died a few months later having contracted a disease.
Arvid was brought up in an almost Spartan environment.
His mother died not much later. Although his guardian, a diplomat, eventually became the ambassador of Fascist Italy to Nazi Germany, Arvid preserved his iron beliefs in democracy and the individuality of the human being.
Before the end of the last world war, he was arrested in Rome by German troops, taken the Germany, and saw the fall of Berlin to Russian troops.
Arvid was one of the first employees of the United Nations.
I remember him telling me how he bought some chairs to furnish the first office of the organization.
He immediately made an impact and rose rather quickly among the staff of the secretariat.
He became one of the principal aids of Hammarskjold. He was scheduled to accompany the secretary general to a mission in the Congo.
Fate decreed to spare his life, for at the last minute he was entrusted with an urgent matter. The aircraft of Hammarskjold crashed and all on board were killed.
When Malta achieved independence in 1964, Pardo showed a pride for the island second to none.
Borg Olivier asked him to join our diplomatic service. Against the feelings of his family, and at a substantial pecuniary loss, he gladly accepted, becoming Malta’s first ambassador to the United States of America, and the island’s permanent representative at the United Nations. He applied for Maltese citizenship and treasured his Maltese passport.
He was fluent in eight languages. After 1964 he even learnt Maltese.
When he presented his credentials in Moscow as Malta’s ambassador to the Soviet Union, he surprised the Russian leader by addressing him in the native tongue.
Arvid was modest when dealing with people, moderate when facing problems and, above all, totally unassuming for his achievements.
He conceived the theory of the common heritage of mankind, launched his proposal in the assembly of the United Nations to have it adopted in so far as the sea was concerned, and strove relentessly to see approved.
At first, most politicians, worldwide, thought the idea was utopian.
With the passage of time, most of them realised how far-reaching and beneficial his concept was for mankind.
It became a landmark in bringing nations together, accepting to share what nature offered them.
He put Malta on the world map. Nowadays the Law of the Sea is assimilated to our island. He was a genuine believer, revelled in classics and the arts; his knowledge of history was almost limitless.
When I received the news from America of his demise, it was incumbent on me to inform the President of the Republic and the price minister.
I lost a mentor.
Malta has lost one of its finest sons.
We are poorer for the lack of his creative mind, sometimes verging on the genius.
But the world is richer for having inherited Pardo’s novel theory of the common
heritage of mankind.His name will go down in the annals of the 20th century.
To his wife Margit and to his three children go the nation’s sincere condolences, and a great thank you for supporting throughout all his life, such a worthy son of the island.
