Arvid Pardo

Who was Arvid Pardo?

Arvid Pardo was a Maltese diplomat, scholar, and university professor. He is known as the "Father of the Law of the Sea Conference".

Pardo was born in Rome. His Maltese father died of typhus while on a relief mission in the Soviet Union in 1922. His Swedish mother died a year later during an appendectomy and his brother was killed in an automobile accident. He became the ward of his uncle, Italian diplomat Bernardo Attolico, who served as Ambassador to Brazil, the Soviet Union, Germany and the Vatican. Attolico sent him to school at Collegio Mondragone, Frascati, and the young Pardo spent his vacations with Attolico at the latter's various diplomatic posts.

Pardo spoke Italian, English, French, Swedish and Spanish fluently, and knew German fairly well. As a student in pre-war Rome, he met Margit Claeson, a Swedish textile designer. In 1947, once his finances were secure, he went to Sweden to find her and married her. They had three children: Christina, Lars and David, all educated in England. His wife and children all outlived him.

Pardo received a degree in diplomatic history from the University of Tours, France in 1938 and a doctorate in international law from the University of Rome in 1939. When World War II began, he commenced underground activities as an anti-Fascist organizer but was arrested by the Italian authorities in 1940. After the fall of Benito Mussolini's government, he was freed in September 1943, but was re-arrested at once by the Gestapo and kept in Alexanderplatz Prison, Berlin under a sentence of death. In 1945, as the Red Army approached Berlin, the Swiss officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross arranged his release. After the Soviets entered Berlin, Pardo was arrested again and interrogated. Once released, he crossed the Elbe, walking to the Allied lines, and made contact with British and American forces. He was sent to London, where he arrived penniless.