BORGESE, Elisabeth Mann 1918-2002

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born April 24, 1918, in Munich, Germany; died of complications from a respiratory infection February 8, 2002, in Samedan, near St. Moritz, Switzerland. Political scientist, environmentalist, educator, and author. Borgese devoted her life to the preservation of the seas and the responsible management of ocean resources. She was an organizer of the first Peace in the Oceans Conference in 1970 and a founder of the International Oceans Institute, which she headed until 1992. Her unflagging efforts contributed to the creation of the United Nations Law of the Seas Treaty in 1982. Borgese, the daughter of German novelist Thomas Mann, was born in Germany but fled that country in 1933. As a U.S. citizen from 1941 to 1983, her work included several years as a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California; she was also a founding member of the Club of Rome. Adopting Canadian citizenship in 1983, Borgese taught political science and law at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her ongoing mission, however, was to protect the sea. She wrote several books, including The Drama of the Oceans, which was widely translated, Ocean Governanceand the United Nations, and The Oceanic Circle: Governing the Seas as a Global Resource. She also promoted the development of the sea as a resource, in books like Seafarm and The Mines of Neptune: Minerals and Metals of the Sea. Borgese's accomplishments were honored worldwide. Her awards include the Order of Canada in 1987, a German Federal Order of Merit, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, February 24, 2002, p. B16.

New York Times, February 16, 2002, obituary by Wolfgang Saxon, p. B16.

Times (London, England), March 2, 2002.

Washington Post, February 10, 2002, p. C6.