over its persecution and discrimination of Jews and warned the League of the looming disaster for Europe. He was boycotted by the representatives of the German Reich and the representatives of the Nazi Party in Danzig. In August 2010, a room in the Gdansk City Hall, the building that had been Lester's residence during his stay, was renamed by Mayor Paweł Adamowicz as the Seán Lester Room. League of Nations Lester returned to Geneva in 1937 to become Deputy Secretary General of the League of Nations. In 1940, he became Secretary General of the body, but the League now had only 100 employees, including guards and janitors, of the original 700. Lester remained in Geneva throughout the war and kept the League's technical and humanitarian programs in limited operation for the duration of the war. In 1946, he oversaw the League's closure and turned over the League's assets and functions to the newly-established United Nations. Later years Despite rumours that he would be prepared to stand for election as President of Ireland, Lester sought no permanent office and retired to Recess, County Galway, in the west of Ireland, where he died. In its obituary, The Times described Lester as an "international conciliator and courageous friend of refugees". He was given the Woodrow Wilson Award in 1945 and a doctorate of the National University of Ireland in 1948. His granddaughter Susan Denham was Chief Justice of Ireland for the Supreme Court of Ireland from 2011 to 2017. References Biographies Stephen Ashworth Barcroft: The international civil servant: the League of Nations career of Sean Lester, 1929–1947; Dublin 1973 Douglas Gageby: The last secretary general: Sean Lester and the League of Nations; Dublin 1999; Arthur W. Rovine: The first fifty years: the secretary-general in world politics 1920–1970; Leyden 1970; Michael Kennedy: Ireland and the League of Nations 1919–1946: politics, diplomacy and international relations; Dublin 1996 Paul McNamara: Sean Lester, Poland and the Nazi Takeover of Danzig; Irish Academic Press Ltd 2008; External links Biography Nation Builders: Sean Lester biographical article from the producers of an Irish documentary on Lester. League of Nations Archives, with a short biography League of Nations Archives, Private Archives of Sean Lester Documents on Irish Foreign Policy website 1880s births 1959 deaths Irish diplomats Irish Protestants Secretaries General of the League of Nations People from Carrickfergus People educated at Methodist College Belfast