Gaston Thorn

Gaston Thorn (1980).

Gaston Egmond Thorn (born September 3, 1928 in Luxembourg ; † August 26, 2007 ibid) was a Luxembourg politician .

Early life

During the German occupation of Luxembourg in World War II , Thorn was a concentration camp prisoner for several months . He later studied law in Montpellier , Lausanne and Paris . In 1953 he became president of the student union UNEL ( Union nationale des étudiant (e) s du Luxembourg ). In 1959 he became a member of the European (EP) and Luxembourg parliaments; he remained in the EP until 1969. Thorn was chairman of the Democratic Party of Luxembourg from 1961 to 1980 .

Government and EC Commission

In 1969 he became Minister of Sport and Foreign Affairs of the Grand Duchy. After the 1974 elections, he also took over the post of Prime Minister . He held these offices until 1979. Until Xavier Bettel was sworn in in December 2013, Thorn was the only Prime Minister of Luxembourg who was not a member of the CSV . Thorn headed the 30th UN General Assembly as President in 1975 . 1979/1980 Thorn was Luxembourg's Minister for Economic Affairs, Justice and Foreign Affairs.

From January 6, 1981 to January 5, 1985 he was President of the European Commission ( Thorn Commission ). During his presidency the power of the commission grew considerably, to the detriment of both the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament , with which his commission was in frequent power struggles.

“Post-political” life

In 1987 Thorn became General Director of Radio Luxembourg and the CLT media holding company . With the merger of CLT and UFA in 1997 to form CLT-UFA , owner u. a. from RTL Television and part of the RTL Group since 2000 , he became Chairman of the company's Board of Directors. In 2004 Thorn retired.

Thorn was married.

Honors

• Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcons (1969)
• Robert Schuman Prize (Alfred Toepfer Foundation) (1977)
• Honorary Senator of the Universities of Saarland (1981) and Graz (1984)
• Sharpest blade in the city of Solingen (1978)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Faithful Service (2004)

literature

• Literature by and about Gaston Thorn in the catalog of the German National Library

Web links

Commons : Gaston Thorn  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Gaston Thorn passed away - a pilot disembarked
• Entry on Gaston Thorn in the Members' database of the European Parliament