Max van der Stoel

Max van der Stoel (1981)

Max van der Stoel (left) with the American Defense Minister Caspar Weinberger (1983)

Max van der Stoel (born August 3, 1924 in Voorschoten ; † April 23, 2011 in The Hague ) was a Dutch politician of the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) and internationally respected diplomat .

Studies and PhD

Van der Stoel studied law and sociology at the University of Leiden . In 1947 first promotion to Doctor iuris and 1953 the doctorate in sociology.

From 1999 to 2001 van der Stoel held the Rudolph Cleveringa Chair for Human Rights at the University of Leiden. From January 2001 to January 2003 he was also visiting professor for international and European law at the University of Tilburg .

Political career in the Netherlands

Member of the First and Second Chamber

Van der Stoel joined the PvdA as early as 1946. After completing his studies, he worked for the Wiardi Beckman Foundation, the scientific office of the PvdA, from 1953 to 1958. Subsequently he was secretary of the Partij van de Arbeid for international affairs from until 1963.

1960 to 1965 he was initially a member of the First Chamber (Eerste Kamer) . From 1966 to 1973 and from 1977 to 1981 he was a member of the Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer) as a representative of the PvdA .

State Secretary and Foreign Minister

From July 22, 1965 to November 22, 1966, van der Stoel was State Secretary in the Foreign Ministry in Jo Cals' cabinet .

From May 11, 1973 to December 19, 1977 he was Foreign Minister in Joop den Uyl's cabinet as successor to Norbert Schmelzer . In this capacity he was also President of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 1976 .

A memorial in Max van der Stoel Park in the Hradčany district of Prague has been commemorating the meeting with Patočka since 2017

During a visit to Czechoslovakia in February 1977, van der Stoel also spoke to the spokesman for the Czechoslovak civil rights movement Charter 77 , Jan Patočka , which led to significant protests on the Czechoslovak government side. Patočka was then interrogated by the state security and died as a result.

In Dries van Agt's cabinet , van der Stoel was again Foreign Minister from September 8, 1981 to May 29, 1982. From 1986 to 1992 he was a member of the State Council. For his services to Dutch politics, he was awarded the honorary title of Minister of State on May 22, 1991 .

After retiring from Dutch politics, he founded the International Max van der Stoel Prize for Human Rights.

In 2001 he was the driving force behind the founding of the South East European University in Skopje , North Macedonia .

Internationally respected diplomat

Max van der Stoel also earned a reputation as an internationally respected diplomat. From 1983 to 1986 he was Ambassador of the Netherlands to the United Nations .

From 1991 to 1999 he was the UN's rapporteur for the observance of human rights in Iraq . At the same time, he was High Commissioner for National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) from 1993 to July 1, 2001 .

Since July 1, 2001, Max van der Stoel has been Special Advisor for Macedonia to the Secretary General and Commissioner for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the Council of the European Union Javier Solana .

Awards and honors

• 1966: Order of the Dutch Lion
• 1974: Medal of Honor for Zeal and Ingenuity of the House Order of Orange
• 1975: Grand Cross of the Federal Cross of Merit
• 1977: Doctor honoris causa from the University of Athens
• 1977: Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix
• 1978: Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau
• 1982: Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau
• 1982: Freedom of Speech Award from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Foundation
• 1994: Doctor iuris honoris causa from the Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht
• 1996: Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Order, 2nd class
• 1997: Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class
• 2000: Grand Officer of the Star of Romania
• 2001: Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise IV class
• 2001: Order of the White Double Cross, 1st class
• 2001: Commander with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
• 2001: Hessian Peace Prize for his work on human rights
• 2006: Honorary Knight Grand Cross des Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG)

Publications

• Stoel, Max van der: Democracy and Human Rights: On the Work of the High Commissioner for National Minorities of the OSCE (Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg: Hamburg Lectures at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy, 3; Hamburg, 1997)
• Stoel, Max van der: Peace and Stability through Human and Minority Rights. Baden-Baden 2001.

Biographical sources and background literature

Commons : Max van der Stoel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography on the website of the Dutch government
• Biography on "Parlement & Politiek", information collection of the University of Leiden
• Biography in The European International Model United Nations
• Honor for 60 years of membership in the PvdA
• Interview as High Commissioner on National Minorities of the OSCE 1995
• Heiko Fürst: The minority policy of the High Commissioner for National Minorities of the OSCE in Romania. Master's thesis 2001
• Heiko Fürst: The HCNM as an actor in the OSCE. online at elektronischesnetz.de
• Bernard von Plate: OSCE and the Council of Europe - Stability through crisis management and a balance of interests. In: Information on political education (Issue 274)
• Literature by and about Max van der Stoel in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/9616789/__Max_van_der_Stoel__86__overleden__.html
2. ↑ Contribution to Charter 77 with a comment on protests on the occasion of van der Stoel's visit in 1977 on radio.cz, seen on July 19, 2009
3. ↑ Press release on the occasion of the awarding of the Hessian Peace Prize (with program), seen on July 19, 2009