The invisible archaeologist: Letters from the UNESCO Secretariat 1946–1947

Abstract

Drawing on 81 original letters written by an executive member of staff at UNESCO’s Secretariat 1946–1947, this article aims to deneutralize the work of individual scholars and intellectuals in the officially neutral and invisible Secretariat, and situate the foundational work of UNESCO in the reality of post-war Paris. Olov R. T. Janse, a Swedish-born archaeologist who had worked in Europe, French Indochina and for US intelligence services, worked six months at the UNESCO Secretariat, from November 1946 to May 1947. The letters he sent home to his wife Ronny abound with details and information about his work and life, in and around the UNESCO Secretariat. They outline connections with pre-Second World War cosmopolitan networks and colonial structures, against a background of harsh human reality in post-war Paris, and thus situate UNESCO’s foundation at the point of intersection between pre-war nostalgia and post-war dreams of a peaceful future.