Benegal Narsing Rau

Sir Benegal Narsing Rau, who lived from February 26, 1887, to November 30, 1953, was an Indian civil servant, jurist, diplomat and statesman who entered the Indian Civil Service in 1910, was knighted in 1938, and served as a judge of the Bengal High Court before retiring from the civil service in 1944. As constitutional advisor to India's Constituent Assembly from 1946, he prepared the initial draft that the Drafting Committee chaired by B. R. Ambedkar used as the basis for its deliberations on the Constitution of India, a contribution Ambedkar himself publicly credited. He served as India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1948 to 1952 and as president of the UN Security Council in June 1950. He was elected a judge of the International Court of Justice in 1951 and served from February 1952 until his death in November 1953.