Sean MacBride (1904–1988)

Seán MacBride was a French-born Irish patriot, lawyer, and international politician. He was the son of two Irish nationalists, Maud Gonne and her husband Major John MacBride, who had fought in the Boer War with the Boers. His parents separated shortly after his birth and fought a bitter custody battle over him. His father was executed by the British Army after the failed 1916 Easter Rising. Sean fought in the Irish war of independence and in the civil war that followed. He served as chief-of-staff of the Irish Republican Army for a time. He subsequently was the leader of the republican-socialist Clann na Poblachta party, and after independence became the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs. After leaving politics, he was a founder member of Amnesty International and later was awarded the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize and the 1975-76 Lenin Peace Prize.