Madanjeet Singh was born on 16 April 1924 in Lahore, present-day Pakistan. A well-known painter and a distinguished photographer, he is an internationally known author of several books on art and other subjects, closely interwoven with UNESCO’s programmes, principles and ideals. During Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Quit India’ movement in 1942 against
colonial rule, Madanjeet Singh was imprisoned. He later migrated to newly partitioned India in 1947 and worked in a refugee camp. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1953 and
served as Ambassador of India in Asia, South America, Africa and Europe before joining UNESCO in1982, based in Paris. In 1995, in recognition of his lifelong devotion to the cause of communal harmony and peace, the UNESCO Executive Board created the biennial ‘UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence’. The decision was adopted at meetings in Paris and Fez (16 May to 4 June), to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. In 2000, Madanjeet Singh was designated a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador on the United Nations’ International Day of Tolerance.