Andrew Grene:ANDREW GRENE, who has died aged 44, was a political affairs officer with the United Nations in Haiti. While working as special assistant to the head of the UN stabilisation mission in Haiti, Hédi Annabi, he was killed with 84 colleagues when the UN building in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, collapsed during last month's earthquake.
“The UN has lost one of its most dedicated, able and kind officers,” said his colleague Mike MacKinnon. “It is a poorer institution today as a result. Like so many others, I have lost a dear friend and mentor. He will be profoundly missed.”
Michel H McDowell of the Panos Institute in Washington DC said: “Andrew was very conscious of reaching across the sectarian divide North and South in Ireland, but made a positive difference on a wider stage in recent years.”
Born in Chicago in 1965, he was the son of renowned classicist David Grene, from Dublin, and Ethel Weiss Grene, a medical doctor. In addition to being an academic at the University of Chicago, his father also farmed, and Andrew spent much of his childhood on the family farm in Derrycark near Belturbet in Co Cavan.
There he attended Fairgreen school, and later was a pupil at New Trier high school, Chicago. He took his BA at the University of Chicago, majoring in French and Spanish, and then studied for an MPhil at Trinity College Dublin.
He worked in Italy for two years before training as a journalist at Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University.
He first worked for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. "He was an extremely fast learner in an area that requires special knowledge; he acquired it quickly," his former editor Bernard M Judge said. "He became a very strong reporter and fine writer in months."
In the mid-1990s Grene left his job in Chicago and moved with his family to New York state. He joined the UN, where he worked in the public information department.
Following this, he worked as a speech writer for then UN secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali. In 1997 he became a political affairs officer and gained experience of peacekeeping operations, working in the Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
He also helped to broker the historic peaceful transition of power from Indonesia to an independent East Timor.
Passionate about Haiti and its people, Grene sought a posting to Port-au-Prince. One of his colleagues in Haiti, Jean-Marc Koumoue, said he was always impressed that Grene took time to get to know the Haitian people. He often shopped at local art markets, and his family said their homes were decorated with paintings by emerging artists that he supported.
Another colleague, Chris Coleman, said: “Andrew will be remembered for his formidable intellect, his engaging warmth, his enormous compassion. He accorded the same respect to the marginalised and destitute that he gave to world leaders. His profound conviction was that being human was what matters – the rest involved mere trappings.”
An accomplished linguist, Grene spoke French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian fluently, and had learned Creole during his time in Haiti.
A dedicated professional, as well as a devoted family man, he believed passionately in his work, particularly in the need for education for the Haitian people. This cause will be furthered by the charitable foundation established in his name by his family, friends and colleagues,
His wife, Jennifer Belshaw, whom he married in 1988, sons Patrick and Alex and daughter Rosamund survive him. He is also survived by his twin brother, Gregory, a founder member of US-based Celtic rock band The Prodigals, half-sister Ruth, professor of plant physiology at Virginia Tech, and half-brother Nicholas, professor of English literature at TCD.
Andrew Grene: born October 6th, 1965; died January 12th, 2010