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Ronan Farrow

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Ronan Farrow
File:Ronan Farrow Headshot.jpg
Farrow in 2009
Born
Satchel Ronan O'Sullivan Farrow

(1987-12-19) December 19, 1987 (age 36)
New York City[1]
NationalityAmerican
EducationBard College
Yale Law School

Ronan Farrow (born Satchel O'Sullivan Farrow; December 19, 1987)[1] is an American human-rights activist, journalist, lawyer and government official.[2] He served as a foreign policy official in the Obama Administration, most notably as the first director of the State Department Office of Global Youth Issues.[2][3] Farrow's writings have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal and other publications, focused primarily on human rights issues in the Horn of Africa.[4]

Early life

Farrow was born to actress Mia Farrow during her partnership with movie director Woody Allen. He was named after baseball player Satchel Paige[5] and his maternal grandmother, actress Maureen O'Sullivan. He was given the surname "Farrow" to avoid a family with "one child named Allen amidst two Farrows and six Previns."[6] Mia Farrow asserted in 2006 that his proper name is Seamus Ronan Farrow, and was subsequently changed to Ronan Seamus Farrow "because everyone in America would mispronounce it and call him Seemus."[7]

Asked in 2013 about reports that Farrow is the son of Mia Farrow's ex-husband Frank Sinatra, Mia Farrow responded with "possibly,"[8][9] prompting Sinatra's widow Barbara Sinatra to denounce the suggestion as "lies" and "a bunch of junk" and a representative of Allen's to call the article "fictitious and extravagantly absurd".[10][11][12]

Farrow first came to prominence when at age 11 he became the youngest student to attend Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, an affiliate of Bard College that accepts high school-aged students wanting to start college early.[13][14] He went on to Bard College, where he graduated at age 15.[13][15] At 16, he attended Yale Law School,[13] graduating in 2009,[15] and later became a member of the New York Bar.[2][16]

Career

From 2001 to 2009, he was an occasional volunteer UNICEF celebrity spokesperson for youth in Nigeria, Angola, and Sudan, assisting in fundraising and addressing United Nations affiliated groups in the United States.[2][17][18] During this time, he made two four-day trips to the Darfur region of Sudan with his mother, Mia Farrow, to participate in media availabilities and photo ops at UNICEF-run camps.[19] He subsequently appeared on MSNBC, ABC, and CNN advocating for the protection of Darfuri refugees.[2] Following on his experiences in Sudan, Farrow was affiliated with the Genocide Intervention Network,[20] a group founded by Swarthmore College students to advocate for armed involvement in the Darfur Conflict.

In 2007 Farrow interned for a month in the office of the chief counsel at the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs.[21][22]

In 2009, he was hired as Special Adviser for Humanitarian and NGO Affairs in the Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at an annual salary of $113,007.[23][24] According to Politico, the appointment was met with "shock" from representatives of aid groups operating in the region. "You have seasoned, experienced NGO officials dealing with some very sensitive foreign policy and humanitarian aid issues, whose main contact in Holbrooke's office is a [21] year old whose experience has been traveling to southern Sudan with his mom," one official reportedly said.[25]

In 2011, Farrow concluded his work in the Office of the Special Representative and was appointed to an 11-month term as Special Adviser to the Secretary of State on Global Youth Issues[2] at a salary of $119,238.[26]

In 2012 he accepted a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University.[27]

In October 2013, Farrow was in talks to host a weekend program on MSNBC.[16]

Political Positions

Ethiopia

In April 2008, Farrow accompanied U.S. Rep. Donald Payne on a short visit to the Horn of Africa, during which he authored a column for the Los Angeles Times on Ethiopia's counter-insurgency operations in the Ogaden desert.[28] The government of Ethiopia responded to Farrow's column in a statement noting that his story was based on a single refugee Farrow interviewed in Kenya, that his visit had only lasted four days and had not taken him to the Ogaden, and ultimately concluding that Farrow "clearly knows nothing of Somali clan politics."[29][30]

Israel and the UN

Farrow has sharply and repeatedly criticized the UN's political bodies, including the predecessor to its Human Rights Council - the Commission on Human Rights - which he slammed in the Wall Street Journal as "a cancer on the United Nations" for its criticism of Israel.[31] In the aftermath of the historic 2008 failure of the United States to win reelection to the Human Rights Council, Farrow called for the body to be completely abolished.[32] He supported, but expressed skepticism regarding the U.S. decision to rejoin the UN Human Rights Council in early 2009.[33]

Military Intervention in Africa

Farrow was a vocal advocate for military intervention in Darfur. He authored a string of columns on the subject between 2004–07, interviewing U.N. Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno as early as 2006 on the need for troop contributions.[34] He has written repeatedly on China's investments in the Horn of Africa, including a series of exposés on their alleged arming and funding of the Sudanese government's brutal offensive in Darfur. His writing on the subject, beginning with an August 2006 piece in the Wall Street Journal entitled "China's Crude Conscience"[35], linked Beijing to the Darfur genocide and have been cited with helping to spark advocacy on the subject.[36] He pressed for diplomatic pressure on China, criticizing the administration of George W. Bush's engagements with Beijing during the 2008 Olympics.[37]

Libya

In 2013, he authored an op-ed for The Atlantic on the Congressional investigation of the 2012 Benghazi attack, claiming that "in all but exclusively focusing on what Administration officials said after Stevens's death, Congress isn't just wasting America's time -- it's squandering a chance to save lives in the future." Farrow, who claims he worked with the victims of the attack, defended some former colleagues, such as Hillary Clinton associate Cheryl Mills, while criticizing others for allowing security to deterioriate at the Libya facility.[38]

Recognition

In 2008, Farrow was awarded Refugees International's McCall-Pierpaoli Humanitarian Award, for "extraordinary service to refugees and displaced people."[39] In 2009, he was named by New York Magazine as their "New Activist" of the year and included on its list of individuals "on the verge of changing their worlds”.[40] In 2010, Harper’s Bazaar named him their “up-and-coming politician" of the year.[2][41]

Forbes Magazine ranked him number one in Law and Policy on their "30 Under 30" Most Influential People list for 2012. He was included again in 2013.[42] In its 2013 retrospective of influential men born in its 80 years of publication, Esquire Magazine named him the man of the year of his birth.[43]

References

  1. ^ a b "Son Born to Mia Farrow And Woody Allen". Associated Press via The New York Times. December 22, 1987. Retrieved October 2, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Biography: Ronan Farrow, Special Adviser to the Secretary of State, Global Youth Issues". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/10/ronan-farrow-in-talks-with-msnbc-174118.html
  4. ^ "Washington Social Diary". New York Social Diary. May 15, 2008. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  5. ^ Corliss, Richard; Harbison, Georgia (August 31, 1992), "Woody Allen and Mia Farrow: Scenes From A Breakup", Time, retrieved October 1, 2010
  6. ^ Lax, Eric (1992). Woody Allen: A Biography (2nd ed.). New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-73847-9. p.182
  7. ^ Pringle, Gill (June 2, 2006). "Mia Farrow: 'My faith helps me through hard times'". The Independent. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  8. ^ "Mia Farrow and Eight of Her Children Speak Out on Their Lives, Frank Sinatra, and the Scandals They've Endured". Vanity Fair. October 2, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  9. ^ http://www.freep.com/article/20131003/ENT07/310030081/Is-Ronan-Farrow-really-Frank-Sinatra-s-child-
  10. ^ Fessier, Bruce (October 3, 2013). "Barbara Sinatra: Frank Sinatra, Ronan Farrow rumor 'phony'". The Desert Sun.
  11. ^ D'Zurilla, Christie (October 3, 2013). "Barbara Sinatra dismisses Mia Farrow's paternity remark as 'junk'". The Los Angeles Times.
  12. ^ Dowd, Kathy (October 3, 2013). "Barbara Sinatra Slams Suggestion Frank Sinatra 'Possibly' Fathered Mia Farrow's Son". People.
  13. ^ a b c "Ronan S. Farrow Named 2012 Rhodes Scholar" (Press release). Bard College at Simon’s Rock. November 2011. Farrow, '99 was the youngest student ever admitted to Simon's Rock at age 11. ... At age 15 he was the youngest graduate of Bard College and was among the youngest students to enter Yale Law School, at 16.
  14. ^ "College Boy". People. January 01, 2000. Retrieved 2010-04-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ a b "Three with New York Ties Named Rhodes Scholars". Associated Press via WNBC-TV. November 20, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  16. ^ a b Guthrie, Marisa (October 2, 2013). "Ronan Farrow in Talks to Host MSNBC Show (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  17. ^ "Ronan Farrow: A Prominent Voice Advocating for Children". UNICEF. December 20, 2005. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  18. ^ "UNICEF Youth Spokesperson Ronan Farrow heads call for universal access to HIV treatment". UNICEF. June 1, 2006. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  19. ^ http://www.unicef.org/media/media_34482.html
  20. ^ "Staff". Genocide Intervention Network. Archived from the original on September 8, 2007. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
  21. ^ http://www.legistorm.com/person/Ronan_Farrow/49299.html
  22. ^ http://nymag.com/news/features/all-new/53360/
  23. ^ http://php.app.com/fed_employees/results09.php?name=farrow&agency_name=%25&job_title=%25&statename=%25&countyname=%25&Submit=Search
  24. ^ http://www.state.gov/outofdate/bios/168769.htm
  25. ^ http://www.politico.com/blogs/laurarozen/1009/Special_liaison_Holbrooke_appoints_Mia_Farrows_son_as_liaison_to_NGOs.html
  26. ^ http://php.app.com/fed_employees11/details.php?recordID=797895
  27. ^ "Ronan S. Farrow - The Rhodes Scholarships". Rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  28. ^ Farrow 2008b.
  29. ^ http://www.ephrem.org/dehai_news_archive/2008/jan-mar08/0996.html
  30. ^ Ambassador Selassie, Taye Atske (February 25, 2008), "Don't Glamorize Insurgents", The Los Angeles Times
  31. ^ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120156891659323879.html
  32. ^ http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/146720/four-ways-the-un-has-messed-over-israel
  33. ^ Farrow 2009a.
  34. ^ Farrow 2006a.
  35. ^ Farrow 2006b.
  36. ^ Hamilton, Bec (2011), Fighting for Darfur, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 137–38
  37. ^ Farrow 2008c.
  38. ^ "The Real Benghazi Scandal". Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  39. ^ "Refugees International to Honor Farrow". April 28, 2008. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
  40. ^ "New Activist: Ronan Farrow". NY Mag. January 11, 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
  41. ^ "Names to Know in 2011: Ronan Farrow". October 6, 2010. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  42. ^ "30Under30". Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  43. ^ "Esquire". Retrieved October 3, 2013.


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