Herbert Vere Evatt (1894-1965) was an Australian statesman, judge, and author. He laid the foundations of Australia's foreign policy and played an important part in establishing the United Nations.

Herbert Vere Evatt was a noted internationalist. He championed the role of the small and middle powers in the maintenance of world order and sought to advance international protection of human rights and the ideal of full employment in all countries. Believing as he did in the value of regional arrangements, Evatt was the decisive influence in the creation in 1947 of the South Pacific Commission, which has done so much to advance economic and human welfare in the South Pacific region.

Evatt was born on April 30, 1894, at East Maitland, New South Wales. His father died in 1901, and the family thereupon moved to Sydney, where Evatt was educated at Fort Street High School and Sydney University. At this university he...