OBITUARY - IAN PRIOR

A Long-Term And Dedicated Worker For Disarmament

Peace Researcher 38 – July 2009

- Nick Wilson

Nick Wilson is the Chair of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (NZ). This obituary was also published in IPPNW (NZ)’s June/July 2009 newsletter.

Ian Prior, who was well known to the New Zealand peace movement, died in February 2009, aged 85. Ian regarded the threat of nuclear weapons as a critical public health issue and with a group of physician friends he co-founded the New Zealand branch of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)* in 1981. He played leading roles in the New Zealand branch (including as Chairperson), and provided sustained contributions to the international efforts of the organisation for over two and a half decades.

*See “SIS Spied On Peace Movement For Decades”, by Murray Horton, elsewhere in this issue. That details the peace groups that the Director of the Security Intelligence Service has confirmed were the targets of its historic spying. IPPNW (NZ) was one of them. The Director explained that it had been necessary to spy on these groups because they had been infiltrated by “cynical Communists”. Ed.

Ian was particularly good at engaging young doctors and medical students (myself included, back in the early 1980s) in a way that made them feel part of an important and worthwhile national and international effort. Another attribute was Ian’s ability to attract key international people to New Zealand to speak publicly on peace issues in well-orchestrated events. At these events it was easy to see what a great networker Ian was and how he engaged with politicians, diplomats, officials, scientists, artists and community leaders, both in New Zealand and internationally. As George Salmond* once wrote: “with great skill and sensitivity, Ian uses his networks to advance the cause of nuclear weapons abolition”. *George Salmond is a long standing member of IPPNW, a long term friend of Ian's and he was a key figure in the World Court Project. He is a former Director General of Health.

Together with his late wife Elespie, Ian also provided critical financial resources to help IPPNW, particularly through the IPPNW Education and Research Trust. Elespie also provided strong and sustained emotional support to Ian, and frequently helped host IPPNW meetings at their Wadestown home. Ian contributed to many publications by IPPNW and other peace groups – and helped ensure that these were well produced, launched and distributed. He also contributed to various research projects, including work on the impact of nuclear testing [1].

The contribution that Ian made to nuclear disarmament activities has been well recognised, including in the book “The Health of Pacific Societies – Ian Prior's Life and Work”. George Salmond also spoke eloquently about his important role on National Radio (1/3/09, Radio NZ). Furthermore, IPPNW (NZ) has recently deposited its key documents with the National Archive and this means that future historians will be able to study more closely the contribution that Ian and his colleagues have made in the disarmament field.

There was also other public recognition for Ian’s long and varied contributions to disarmament, the environment, to the arts and to advancing public health. In 1988 he was awarded an Honorary DSc. (Victoria University of Wellington) and in 1996 he was inducted as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM). Various articles expand on Ian’s contributions in these other fields (e.g., [2-5]), but to me his contributions to advancing public health and disarmament particularly stand out.

Although never an ABC member nor involved directly in our branch of the peace movement, Ian Prior was an extremely generous donor to the CAFCA/ABC Organiser Account which provides Murray Horton’s income. He was among the very first to donate when it was set up in 1991 and his most recent donation was in 2004. And he was a member of, and an extremely generous annual donor to, the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) from 1993-99. Ed.

References

1. Pearce N, Winkelmann R, Kennedy J, Lewis S, Purdie G, Slater T, Prior I, Fraser J: "Further follow-up of New Zealand participants in United Kingdom atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific". Cancer Causes Control 1997, 8:139-145.

2. Pearce N: "Ian Prior and epidemiology in New Zealand". J Epidemiol Community Health 2009, (Published online 26/4/09).

3. Salmond G: Ian Ambury Miller Prior [Obituary]. N Z Med J 2009, 122:122-123.

4. Wallace C: Dr Ian Prior: MD2. ECOLink, March/April 2009:11.

5. Kitchin P: "Ian Ambury Miller Prior: Doctor, activist, patron of the arts". Otago Daily Times 2009, (11/4/09).

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