Description

Max Kohnstamm (*1914) is a pioneer of post-war European unification. As Jean Monnet s right-hand man he was closely involved in the establishment and design of the European Union (EU) as we know it today. Up to the present day he devotes himself to a solid European and international community of law, aimed at effectively banning unilateral power aspirations and interstate violence. As a surviver of Hitler s Nacht und Nebel the young Dutch diplomat and former secretary to Queen Wilhelmina found himself both impressed and greatly inspired by Monnet s campaign for supranationally organising the states of Europe as an alternative for war. Kohnstamm acted as secretary-general of the first European government , the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community. In 1956 he left office to assist Monnet and the latter s Action Committee for the United States of Europe. The two men constituted a team that exerted far-reaching influence behind the scenes of European and global diplomacy. In 1974 Kohnstamm became the first president of the European University Institute in Florence. In later years he played a remarkable role in Jacques Delors policy drive for completing the EU s Common Market.Anjo G. Harryvan and Jan van der Harst lecture and publish on foreign affairs and European integration.