August 7, 1904
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Bunche was appointed to the 1947 UN Special Committee on Palestine, which was charged with carrying out the partition plan.
In 1948, following the assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte, Bunche became the UN’s chief negotiator, eventually securing armistice agreements between Israel and the Arab states. In 1950, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts.
The photo below, from the United Nations shows Bunche meeting with Israel’s UN delegate Aubrey (Abba) Eban on August 4, 1949.
For more on Ralph Bunche:
Bunche’s biography on the Nobel Peace Center page
PBS has a film about Bunche and an accompanying website about his life and achievements