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Max van der Stoel

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Max van der Stoel
Max van der Stoel in 1981
High Commissioner on National
Minorities
of the OSCE
In office
1 January 1993 – 1 July 2001
Secretary-General
See list
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byRolf Ekeus
Member of the Council of State
In office
1 August 1986 – 1 January 1993
Vice PresidentWillem Scholten
Permanent Representative of the
Netherlands to the United Nations
In office
1 July 1983 – 1 August 1986
Preceded byHugo Scheltema
Succeeded byPeter van Walsum
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982
Prime MinisterDries van Agt
Preceded byChris van der Klaauw
Succeeded byDries van Agt
In office
11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977
Prime MinisterJoop den Uyl
Preceded byNorbert Schmelzer
Succeeded byChris van der Klaauw
Member of the European Parliament
In office
22 September 1971 – 11 May 1973
Parliamentary groupSocialist Group
ConstituencyNetherlands
State Secretary for Foreign Affairs
In office
22 July 1965 – 22 November 1966
Serving with Leo de Block
Prime MinisterJo Cals
Preceded byIsaäc Nicolaas
Diepenhorst
Succeeded byLeo de Block
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
16 January 1978 – 11 September 1981
In office
8 June 1977 – 8 September 1977
In office
23 February 1967 – 11 May 1973
In office
5 June 1963 – 22 July 1965
Parliamentary groupLabour Party
Member of the Senate
In office
27 September 1960 – 5 June 1963
Parliamentary groupLabour Party
Personal details
Born
Maximilianus van der Stoel

(1924-08-03)3 August 1924
Voorschoten, Netherlands
Died23 April 2011(2011-04-23) (aged 86)
The Hague, Netherlands
Political partyLabour Party (from 1950)
Spouse
Maria Aritia de Kanter
(m. 1953; div. 1976)
Children4 daughters and 1 son
Alma materLeiden University
(Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Social Science, Master of Laws, Master of Social Science)
OccupationPolitician · Diplomat · Civil servant · Jurist · Researcher · Nonprofit director · Lobbyist · Activist · Author · Professor
Signature

Maximilianus "Max" van der Stoel (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌmɑksimiliˈjaːnɵs ˈmɑks fɑn dɛr ˈstul];[note 1] 3 August 1924 – 23 April 2011) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the Labour Party (PvdA) and jurist. He was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 17 May 1991.

Van der Stoel worked as a researcher at the Wiardi Beckman Foundation from 1953 until 1960. Van der Stoel was elected as a Member of the Senate following the Senate election of 1960, serving from 27 September 1960 until 5 June 1963. He was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1963, serving from 5 June 1963 until 22 July 1965. After the fall of the Cabinet Marijnen on 27 February 1965 Van der Stoel was appointed as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet Cals, taking office on 22 July 1965. The Cabinet Cals fell on 14 October 1966 and was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Zijlstra on 22 November 1966. After the election of 1967 Van der Stoel returned as a Member of the House of Representatives on 23 February 1967. Van der Stoel was selected as a Member of the European Parliament and dual served in those positions from 22 September 1971 until 11 May 1973. After the election of 1972 Van der Stoel was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet Den Uyl, serving from 11 May 1973 until 19 December 1977. After the election of 1977 Van der Stoel returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, serving from 8 June 1977 until 8 September 1977 and again from 16 January 1978. After the election of 1981 Van der Stoel was again appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet Van Agt II, taking office on 11 September 1981. The Cabinet Van Agt II fell just seven months into its term on 12 May 1982 and the Labour Party cabinet members resigned on 29 May 1982. Shortly after the fall of the cabinet Van der Stoel announced that she would not stand for the election of 1982.

Van der Stoel remained in active politics, in June 1983 he was nominated as the next Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the United Nations, serving from 1 July 1983 until 1 August 1986. Van der Stoel was nominated as a Member of the Council of State, serving from 1 August 1986 until his resignation on 1 January 1993 when was appointed as the first High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), serving from 1 January 1993 until 1 July 2001.

Following the end of his active political career, Van der Stoel served as a distinguished professor of minority rights at the Leiden University holding the Cleveringa Chair, serving from 1 April 1999 1999 until 1 April 2000 and as a distinguished professor for international relations, international law, European law and peace and conflict studies at the Tilburg University from 1 January 2001 until 1 January 2003. After his retirement Van der Stoel occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director for supervisory boards for non-governmental organizations (Institute for Multiparty Democracy, Carnegie Foundation, Earth Charter Initiative, ProDemos, Netherlands Atlantic Association, Institute of International Relations Clingendael and the European Association of History Educators) and as an advocate, lobbyist and activist for human rights, humanitarianism, democracy and for European integration presiding over several commissions for the European Union.

Van der Stoel was known for his abilities as a negotiator and consensus builder. Van der Stoel continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death.

Biography

Early life

Van der Stoel studied law at Leiden University where he obtained an LL.M. degree. From 1953 to 1958 he worked for the Wiardi Beckman Stichting, the scientific bureau of the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA, the Dutch labour party) and became international secretary for the PvdA in 1963.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Max van der Stoel, Chancellor of West-Germany Helmut Schmidt and Prime Minister Joop den Uyl during a meeting at the Catshuis on 2 November 1974.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Max van der Stoel, Prime Minister of Spain Adolfo Suárez and Prime Minister Joop den Uyl during a meeting at the Catshuis on 29 August 1977.

Politics

From 1973 to 1977 and 1981 to 1982 he was the Netherlands Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1977, during his visit to communist Czechoslovakia, he met with philosopher and dissident Jan Patočka, and they discussed Charter 77 and human rights in Czechoslovakia.[1][2] This provoked harsh criticism by the Czechoslovak authorities and president Gustáv Husák cancelled scheduled meeting with van der Stoel.[1]

He was appointed as the first High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in December 1992 and took up his functions in January 1993. He remained in office until 2000. Max van der Stoel was a member of the Bilderberg Group.[citation needed]

In 2001, following his intervention as High Commissioner in the ongoing problem of equitable access to higher education by members of the Albanian ethnic group in the Republic of Macedonia, he became the founding President of the International Foundation for the South East European University, raising some 35m Euros from the international community. He later served as President of the University Board until 2004. He was awarded the University's first honorary Doctorate and the University named its Library in his honour.

Van der Stoel was a member of the Advisory Board of the European Association of History Educators (EUROCLIO).

Freedom awards

  • Freedom of Speech of the Four Freedoms Award (1982)
  • Helène de Montigny award (December 1991)
  • Dr. J.P. van Praag award (1 June 1993, Netherlands)
  • Geuzenpenning (1993, Netherlands)
  • Wateler Peace award (30 oktober 1996)

Honorary degrees

Other

  • In 2014, a new park in Prague (in Jan Patočka street) was named in van der Stoel's honour.[2] In 2017, forty years after his meeting with Jan Patočka, Van der Stoel's memorial created by Dominik Lang was unveiled in the park.[3]

Decorations

Honours
Ribbon bar Honour Country Date Comment
Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Netherlands 5 December 1966
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour France 25 Augustus 1973
Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown Belgium 15 March 1974
Honorary Medal for Initiative and Ingenuity
of the Order of the House of Orange
Netherlands 19 September 1974
Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit Germany 1975
Grand Cross of the Order of Merit Portugal 1975
Grand Officer of the Honorary Order of the Palm Suriname 4 September 1977
Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix Greece 10 December 1977
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Spain 1981
Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold Belgium 10 January 1982
Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau Netherlands 9 September 1982 Elevated from Commander
(11 April 1978)
Second Class of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Czech Republic 15 May 1996 [4]
Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau Netherlands / Luxembourg 31 August 1999
Grand Cross of the Order of the White Double Cross Slovakia 5 February 2001 [5]
Fourth Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise Ukraine 30 September 2001 [6]
Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of St Michael and St George
United Kingdom 1 December 2006
Awards
Ribbon bar Awards Organization Date Comment
Four Freedoms Award Roosevelt Institute for
American Studies
1982
Geuzenpenning Vlaardingen 1993
Honorific Titles
Ribbon bar Honour Country Date Comment
Minister of State Netherlands 17 May 1991 Style of Excellency

Honorary degrees

Honorary degrees
University Field Country Date Comment
University of Athens Law Greece 1977
Utrecht University Law Netherlands 1994
Tilburg University Law Netherlands 2003

Notes

  1. ^ In isolation, van is pronounced [vɑn].

References

  1. ^ a b T?ma, Old?ich (2008). "Snídan? s Mitterandem" [Breakfast with Mitterand]. D?jiny a sou?asnost (2). Nakladatelství Lidové noviny. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Park for Everybody". Praha.eu. 2014-09-29. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-01-27. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Dominik Lang vytvo?il památník Maxe van der Stoela – prvního západního politika, který potvrdil význam Charty 77" (in Czech). 2014-09-29.
  4. ^ "State decorations - Tomas Garrigue Masaryk Order - List". hrad.cz. Office of the President of the Republic. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  5. ^ "State decorations - Tomas Garrigue Masaryk Order - List". hrad.cz. Office of the President of the Republic. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  6. ^ Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 885/2001
Official
Political offices
Preceded by State Secretary for
Foreign Affairs

1965–1966
Served alongside: Leo de Block
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs
1973–1977
1981–1982
Succeeded by
Preceded by Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Permanent Representative of the
Netherlands to the United Nations

1983–1986
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Office established
High Commissioner on National
Minorities
of the OSCE

1993–2001
Succeeded by