Garry Davis

Garry Davis
Photograph of Garry Davis, World Coordinator of the World Service Authority (1921–2013)
Born Sol Gareth Davis
July 27, 1921
Bar Harbor, Maine, U.S.
Died July 24, 2013(2013-07-24) (aged 91)
South Burlington, Vermont, U.S.
Citizenship United States (1921–1948)
Stateless (1948–2013)
Alma mater Carnegie Mellon University
East West University
Occupation Peace and world citizenship activist
Organization International Registry of World Citizens
World Service Authority
Known for World citizenship concept worldwide popularization
World Passport
Children Kristina Starr Davis
Troy Davis
Athena Davis
Kim Davis

Sol Gareth "Garry" Davis (July 27, 1921 – July 24, 2013) was an international peace activist who created the World Passport, a fantasy travel document based on his interpretation of Article 13(2), Universal Declaration of Human Rights and on the concept of world citizenship. Previously Davis had worked as a Broadway stage actor[1][2] and served as an American bomber pilot in World War II.[3] He was a devoted World Federalist, although a consistent critic of the World Federalist Movement.[4]

Early life

Davis was born in Bar Harbor, Maine (U.S.), to Meyer and Hilda (née Emery) Davis.[5] His parents were Jewish and Irish, respectively.[6] He graduated from The Episcopal Academy in 1940 and attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University).

Career

A former Broadway actor Davis served in the U.S. Army during the Second World War as a B-17 bomber pilot in the 8th Air Force. Pained by his own brother's war death and at the death he caused other families by bombing the city of Brandenburg in World War II, and fearful that nuclear war could terminate humanity, Davis gave up U.S. citizenship in 1948 and declared himself a "citizen of the world". He mentioned Henry Martyn Noel, who had renounced a few months earlier, as one of his inspirations.[7]

In France, his "Garry Davis Council of Solidarity" support committee was co-founded by writers Albert Camus and André Gide and Emmaus movement originator Abbé Pierre, as well as Robert Sarrazac, a former leader of the French Résistance who joined Davis in founding the Mundialization World Cities movement.

Davis interrupted a session of the United Nations General Assembly on 19 November 1948, "We, the people, want the peace which only a world government can give," he proclaimed. "The sovereign states you represent divide us and lead us to the abyss of total war."[8]

Along with his support committee, he rallied over 15,000 people in Paris to demand that the UN recognize the rights of Humanity.[9]

Eleanor Roosevelt expressed support in her My Day column for Davis' efforts towards forming a worldwide international government.[10]

Davis founded the International Registry of World Citizens in Paris in January 1949, which registered over 750,000 individuals. On 4 September 1953 Davis formed an organisation, the World Government of World Citizens, with the stated aim of furthering fundamental human rights. He additionally formed the World Service Authority in 1954 as the government's executive and administrative agency, which issues its own fantasy passports – along with fantasy birth and other certificates – to customers. Davis first used his World Passport on a trip to India in 1956, and was allegedly admitted into some countries using it.

Davis ran for mayor in Washington, D.C. in 1986 as the candidate of the "World Citizen Party" receiving 585 votes. He also declared himself as the World Citizen Party candidate for the 1988 US presidential election. Davis published multiple books in favor of his cause of world citizenship.

At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Davis issued and disbursed a world currency based on kilowatt hours of solar power produced, an idea proposed by Buckminster Fuller. These "kilowatt dollars" were the earliest documented emissions reduction currency.

In March 2012 at age 90, Davis began broadcasting a weekly radio show, "World Citizen Radio", on the Global Radio Alliance.[11]

Attempts to help Julian Assange and Edward Snowden

In 2012, Davis sent WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange a World Passport. Only weeks before he died, Davis sent a World Passport to whistleblower Edward Snowden in Moscow in care of the Russian authorities.[5]

Death

Davis entered hospice care on 18 July 2013, and died six days later in the municipality of South Burlington, Vermont,[12] aged 91. He is survived by a daughter from his first marriage, Kristina Starr Davis; two sons, Troy and Kim; and a daughter, Athena Davis from his third marriage; a sister, Ginia Davis Wexler; a brother, Emery; and a granddaughter Emma Meluta.[5]

Bibliography

  • Davis, Garry (1961). My Country Is the world: The Adventures of a World Citizen. Putnam.
  • Davis, Garry (1992). Passport to Freedom, A Guide for World Citizens. Nwo Pubns. ISBN 0-929765-08-7
  • Davis, Garry (2003). World Government, Ready or Not!. BookSurge Publishing. ISBN 1-59457-166-X
  • Davis, Garry (2004). Letters to World Citizens. BookSurge Publishing. ISBN 0-9706483-7-5
  • Davis, Garry (2001). A World Citizen in the Holy Land. World Government House. ISBN 0-9706483-4-0
  • Davis, Garry (2005). Cher monde, une odyssée a travers la planete. World Government House. ISBN 0-9706483-9-1
  • Davis, Garry (2006). Dear World: A Global Odyssey. BookSurge Publishing. ISBN 0-7388-2624-3

References

  1. ↑ League, The Broadway. "Garry Davis – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
  2. ↑ League, The Broadway. "Let's Face It! – Broadway Musical – Original - IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
  3. ↑ Langer, Emily (7 August 2013). "Garry Davis, gadfly and 'first citizen of the world,' dies at 91". The Washington Post.
  4. ↑ Davis, Garry. My Country is The World. p. 13.
  5. 1 2 3 Fox, Margalit (2013-07-29). "Garry Davis, Man of No Nation Who Saw One World of No War, Dies at 91". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  6. ↑ "Passport to Game – Politics".
  7. ↑ Green, Susan (2001-03-28). "Passport to Fame?". Vermont Seven Days. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  8. ↑ Fox, Margalit (July 28, 2013). "Garry Davis, Man of No Nation Who Saw One World of No War, Dies at 91". New York Times.
  9. ↑ "Gary Davis Cult: A fervent "citizen of the world"". Life. Jan 24, 1949. pp. 28–29.
  10. ↑ "My Day". December 15, 1948.
  11. ↑ "Global radio alliance". globalradioalliance.com.
  12. ↑ "Vt. man who tried to help Edward Snowden dies". WCAX News. 25 July 2013. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2013.

Further reading

  • Views from My Space (2009) ISBN 1-4392-1792-0
  • World Peace Is You (ebook)
  • Views From My SpaceBook II (2011) ISBN 978-1467909792
  • World Citizen Garry Davis Goes to Court (2011) ISBN 978-1467988988
  • "What's a World Passport?" Daniel Engber, Slate Magazine. Accessed 25 March 2006.
  • Davis v. District Director. INS, 481 F. Supp. 1178 (D.D.C. 1979) Accessed 4 November 2006.

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