Humphrey Wrote It

To the Editors:

In my recent essay on the United Nations [“Is the UN Doomed?,” NYR, February 15] I described René Cassin as “the French jurist who drafted the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” Canadian readers have reminded me that even though Cassin is the final declaration’s best-known author, the first preliminary draft was undertaken by the Canadian lawyer John Peters Humphrey, who was director of the UN Secretariat’s Human Rights Division. I am happy to acknowledge the correction.

Tony Judt

New York City