Bethell, Nicholas 1938–2007

(Nicholas William Bethell, Lord Bethell)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born July 19, 1938, in London, England; died September 8, 2007. Politician, linguist, translator, editor, and author. Bethell succeeded his cousin as Baron Bethell in 1967and became a Conservative member of the British House of Lords, a position that he later believed should be universally elected rather than inherited. He was a longtime believer in the European Community and a strong supporter of Great Britain's membership in that cooperative partnership. Bethell was an elected member of the European Parliament for nearly thirty years; as such, he campaigned actively in favor of free trade among members of the European Union, a relaxation of travel restrictions from one member nation to another, and other issues that he deemed valuable to British commerce. Further, he believed that the European Parliament needed to be a democratic body with the power to enforce European laws. It was Bethell who, in the 1980s, championed the Freedom of the Skies campaign that eventually led to the deregulation of European airlines and the lower airfares that resulted from it. On the international scene, Bethell was a strong supporter of autonomy for Gibraltar and Cyprus and a committed advocate for human rights in the Soviet Union. A linguist with training in Russian, Persian, and Arabic, he had translated works by Russian literary figures, including Cancer Ward by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. It was an accomplishment that would cost him a leadership position in the European Parliament a year later, when he was accused of publishing the work without the authority of the author, an accusation that was never actually proven. Bethell retained his membership in the parliament, however, until his retirement for health reasons in 2003, when he was awarded the Schuman Medal of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) of the parliament in honor of his long career. Before his ascent to politics, Bethell had worked briefly as a member of the editorial staff of the Times Literary Supplement and as an editor of radio scripts for the British Broadcasting Corporation. He was an active journalist and political commentator throughout his life and the author of several books. These include Gomulka: His Poland and His Communism(1969),The War Hitler Won: The Fall of Poland, September 1939(1973),The Last Secret: Forcible Repatriation to Russia, 1944-7(1974),The Palestine Triangle: The Struggle for the Holy Land, 1935-48(1979), and The Great Betrayal: The Untold Story of Kim Philby's Biggest Coup(1984).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Times(London, England), September 11, 2007, p. 61.