Editing Seán Lester (section)

==Diplomatic career==
In 1923, he joined Ireland's Department of External Affairs. He was sent to [[Geneva]] in 1929 to replace Michael MacWhite as Ireland's Permanent Delegate to the [[League of Nations]]. In 1930, he succeeded in organising Ireland's election to the Council (or executive body) of the League of Nations for a three year term. Lester often represented Ireland at Council meetings and stood in for the Minister for External Affairs. He became increasingly involved in the work of the League, particularly in its attempts to bring a resolution to two wars in South America. His work brought him to the attention of the League Secretariat and began his transformation from national to international civil servant.

When [[Peru]] and [[Colombia]] had a dispute over a town in the headwaters of the Amazon, Lester presided over the committee that found an equitable solution.<ref name=timesobit /> He also presided over the less-successful committee when Bolivia and Paraguay went to [[Chaco War|war over the Gran Chaco]].<ref name=timesobit />

In 1933, Lester was seconded to the League's [[wikt:secretariat|Secretariat]] and sent to Danzig (now [[Gdańsk]], [[Poland]]), as the League of Nations' [[High Commissioner]] from 1934 to 1937. The [[Free City of Danzig]] was the scene of an emerging international crisis between [[Nazi Germany]] and the international community over the issue of the [[Polish Corridor]] and the Free City's relationship with the [[Third Reich]]. Lester repeatedly protested to the German government over its persecution and discrimination of Jews and warned the League of the looming disaster for Europe. He was boycotted by the representatives of the German Reich and the representatives of the [[Nazi Party]] in Danzig.<ref>{{cite book|last=Boylan|first= Henry |year=1998|title=A Dictionary of Irish Biography, 3rd Edition|page= 222|location=Dublin|publisher= Gill and MacMillan|isbn= 0-7171-2945-4}}</ref>

In August 2010, a room in the Gdansk City Hall, the building that had been Lester's residence during his stay, was renamed by Mayor [[Paweł Adamowicz]] as the Seán Lester Room.<ref>[https://www.irishtimes.com/news/irishman-honoured-in-polish-city-where-he-warned-of-Nazi-danger-1.642893   Derek Scally, ''Irish Times'', 27 August 2010]</ref>

===League of Nations===
Lester returned to Geneva in 1937 to become Deputy Secretary General of the League of Nations. In 1940, he became Secretary General of the body (he became the League's leader a year after the beginning of [[World War II]] which showed that the League had failed its primary purpose). The League had only 100 employees, including guards and janitors, out of the original 700.

Lester remained in Geneva throughout the war and kept the League's technical and humanitarian programs in limited operation for the duration of the war. In 1946, he oversaw the League's closure and turned over the League's assets and functions to the newly-established [[United Nations]].