Chamberlain, Sir Austen (Joseph Austen Chamberlain) (chām`bərlĭn), 1863–1937, British statesman; son of Joseph Chamberlain Chamberlain, Joseph, 1836–1914, British statesman. After a successful business career, he entered local politics and won distinction as a reforming mayor of Birmingham (1873–76).
..... Click the link for more information. and half brother of Neville Chamberlain Chamberlain, Neville (Arthur Neville Chamberlain), 1869–1940, British statesman; son of Joseph Chamberlain and half brother of Sir Austen Chamberlain .
..... Click the link for more information. . He entered Parliament as a Conservative in 1892. He was chancellor of the exchequer (1903–5), secretary of state for India (1915–17), a member of Lloyd George's war cabinet (1918), again (1919–21) chancellor of the exchequer, and lord privy seal (1921–22). Although he succeeded Andrew Bonar Law Law, Andrew Bonar (bŏn`ər), 1858–1923, British statesman, b. Canada.
..... Click the link for more information. as Conservative leader in 1921, he opposed the Conservative withdrawal that brought down Lloyd George Lloyd George, David, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor
..... Click the link for more information. 's government in 1922. From 1924 to 1929, Chamberlain was foreign secretary under Stanley Baldwin Baldwin, Stanley, 1867–1947, British statesman; cousin of Rudyard Kipling. The son of a Worcestershire ironmaster, he was educated at Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge, and entered the family business.
..... Click the link for more information. . The Locarno Pact Locarno Pact, 1925, concluded at a conference held at Locarno, Switzerland, by representatives of Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Poland.
..... Click the link for more information. of 1925 was largely his work, and in the same year he was awarded (with Charles G. Dawes Dawes, Charles Gates (dôz), 1865–1951, American statesman and banker, b. Marietta, Ohio.
..... Click the link for more information. ) the Nobel Peace Prize. He last held a cabinet position in 1931, but he continued to be influential in Parliament until his death.

Bibliography

See his Down the Years (1935), Politics from Inside (1936), and Seen in Passing (1937); Sir Charles Petrie, Life and Letters of Sir Austen Chamberlain (1939–40); biography by D. Dutton (1985).

Chamberlain, Sir (Joseph) Austen

(born Oct. 16, 1863, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Eng.—died March 16, 1937, London) British statesman. Son of Joseph Chamberlain and half brother of Neville Chamberlain, he entered the House of Commons in 1892. He held a variety of posts, including chancellor of the Exchequer (1903–05, 1919–21) and secretary of state for India (1915–17). As foreign secretary (1924–29), he helped bring about the Locarno Pact, intended to secure peace in western Europe. For that accomplishment, he shared the 1925 Nobel Prize for Peace with Charles Dawes.