Nansen passport

American  

noun

1. a passport issued after World War I by the League of Nations to refugees unable to establish citizenship.

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Nansen passport British  

noun

1. a passport issued to stateless persons by the League of Nations after World War I

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Etymology

Origin of Nansen passport

1920–25; after F. Nansen, on whose initiative an agreement to issue such passports was signed

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Nansen passport

She points to the history of the Nansen passport, devised in the 1920s to help stateless refugees, as support for the feasibility of her plan.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 9, 2022

He remained on a Nansen passport his whole life — a document issued for stateless people and refugees who could not obtain travel documents from a national authority.

From Nature ● Jan. 13, 2015

In the 1920's the young Nabokov, like other emigres, was really a stateless person traveling on a special Nansen passport.

From Time Magazine Archive