Professor Peter Townsend

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6 April 1928 – 8 June 2009

It is with very great sadness that the Centre announces the death of Professor Peter Townsend. Peter Townsend, best known for his defining and far-sighted work on poverty and inequality in a career that spanned five decades, was also a driving force at the Centre for the Study of Human Rights and a great friend and mentor to staff and students alike.

As chair of the Advisory Board for more than five years, active contributor to all of the Centre’s activities, and constant source of support and guidance, Peter will be greatly missed by the Centre staff, students and alumni.

Peter’s last public appearance at the Centre was as a finalist in the Centre’s ‘Right of Rights’ panel event in December 2008, in which he launched powerful case for the realisation of economic and social rights to be recognised as the most important right set out on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

More recently, he has played an active role in the Centre’s interdisciplinary research group dedicated to looking at questions of poverty, responsibility and globalisation, and just last week was serving on the LSE panel charged with recruiting the new Director of the Centre.

Beyond his professional contributions it is Peter’s warmth that will be most sorely missed. His generosity of spirit, his genuine interest in those around him, and his willingness to give his time and energy were great gifts to those who knew him.

Professor Conor Gearty, Director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights, said “Peter was a constant source of good advice and professional support, and of personal friendship. I last saw him on his way home from our alumni dinner via a group of MSc Human Rights graduates who had gathered enthusiastically around him, not wanting to let him go. Now alas we have to. His commitment to human rights as a means of securing justice and the alleviation of poverty was total: I feel honoured to have known him.”

All of us at the Centre are deeply shocked and saddened by the loss of such a great scholar, campaigner and human being. Our thoughts are with his family, about whom he talked with such love and affection.
 

Tributes & Events

Messages and tributes to Peter Townsend can be be posted on the Department of Social Policy website.

Donations may be given to Deepalaya, an education and self-reliance organisation in India to which Peter was deeply committed. Cheques made out to 'Friends of Deepalaya' to be sent to Delvyns, Gaston Street, East Bergholt, Colchester, CO7 6MD (or online)

Peter's family, friends and colleagues organised a series of memorial events - a Service, Conference and Performance commemorating his life and work. Click here for more information about these events. You can also download a PDF Memorial Booklet produced by Policy Press.

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