Conor Cruise O'Brien
UN Representative in Katanga
"Katanga is a strange kind of independence — a company with a flag."
Biography
An Irish diplomat, writer, and intellectual, Conor Cruise O'Brien served as Hammarskjöld's representative in Katanga and became the controversial face of the UN's attempt to end the secession by force. It was O'Brien who, in September 1961, launched Operation Morthor, the offensive that pitched UN peacekeepers into open battle with Katangese forces and mercenaries — and which stalled at Jadotville and coincided with Hammarskjöld's fatal flight. Blamed by many for exceeding his mandate and forced to resign, O'Brien wrote a famous, mordant memoir of the affair, 'To Katanga and Back,' which cast the secession as a puppet state of Belgian mining interests. He went on to a remarkable second career as an Irish government minister, writer, and one of the most provocative public intellectuals of his age.
Did you know?
His caustic book about the Congo, 'To Katanga and Back,' became a classic account of the crisis and of the dilemmas of UN peacekeeping.
Key Battles
The Siege of Jadotville
Katanga, Secessionists & Rebels victorySeptember 13–17, 1961 · 350 total casualties
The stand at Jadotville became a legendary feat of arms, though it was long ignored or treated as a shameful surrender in Ireland; only decades later were the men honoured. It exemplified the strange new world of UN peacekeepers drawn into pitched battle.
Operation Morthor and the Death of Hammarskjöld
Katanga, Secessionists & Rebels victorySeptember 13–18, 1961 · 200 total casualties
The death of Hammarskjöld — the only Secretary-General to die in office, awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize — was a shattering blow to the UN and to the peacekeeping mission, and remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Cold War.
Life Journey
Timeline
November 3, 1917
🌅 Birth
Born in Dublin
September 1961
⚔️ Battle
Launches Operation Morthor in Katanga
December 18, 2008
✝️ Death
Dies in Dublin