John humes biography

Mr. Hume, can you tell us a little bit about your background? Where did you grow up?

John Hume: I grew up in Derry, of course, and it was — Derry was the worst example of Northern Ireland’s discrimination. Of course, the Unionist people, wishing to protect their heritage and their identity — and they’ve every right to do that, in my opinion because every society has diversity, and respect for diversity is central and essential. But my quarrel with their approach was, of course, their methodology. I called it their Afrikaner mind set. They held all power in their own hands in order to protect themselves, in order to ensure that the minority in Northern Ireland, which was the Catholic population, never became a majority, and that meant widespread discrimination in housing, in jobs and in voting rights. And of course, the worst example of that was the city of Derry, where I lived. Seventy percent of the population of Derry was from the Catholic community, larg

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John Hume: His life and times

January 18th, 1937: Born in Lower Nassau Street, Derry, to Sam and Annie Hume.

1958: Hume graduates from Maynooth with a BA in French and history. Continues to study for MA, writing a thesis on the social and economic development of his native city.

1960: Hume, now a schoolteacher, marries Pat Hone.

1960: Hume helps establish Derry Credit Union – the first in nordlig Ireland. He later becomes president of the Irish League of Credit Unions, aged 27.

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May 1964: Hume writes two opinion pieces in The Irish Times, offering a withering critique of the old Nationalist Party. He advocates a new form of social democratic politics, dedicated to working for social justice and for Irish unity based on the principle of consent.

1965: Hume becomes first chairman of new Derry Housing Association, which campaigns for provision of social housing in response to chronic overcrowding.

1965: Hume becomes chairman of University for Der

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John Hume

Irish nationalist politician (1937–2020)

For other people named John Hume, see John Hume (disambiguation).

John HumeKCSG (18 January 1937 – 3 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A founder and leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Hume served in the Parliament of Northern Ireland; the Northern Ireland Assembly including, in 1974, its first power-sharing executive; the europeisk Parliament and the United Kingdom Parliament. Seeking an accommodation between Irish nationalism and Ulster unionism, and soliciting American support, he was both critical of British government policy in Northern Ireland and opposed to the republican embrace of "armed struggle". In their 1998 citation, the Norwegian Nobel Committee recognised Hume as an architect of the Good Friday Agreement. For his own part, Hume wished to be remembered as having been, in his earlier years, a pionjär of the credit un