Max van der Stoel


Maximilianus "Max" van der Stoel was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the Labour Party and jurist. He was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 17 May 1991.
Van der Stoel was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1960, taking office on 27 September 1960. Van der Stoel was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1963, he subsequently resigned as a Member of the Senate the same day he was installed as Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 5 June 1963. On 27 February 1965 the incumbent Cabinet Marijnen fell and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1965 when it was replaced by Cabinet Cals with Van der Stoel appointed as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, taking office on 22 July 1965. The Cabinet Cals fell on 14 October 1966 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1966 when it 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, taking office on 23 February 1967 serving as a frontbencher. Van der Stoel was selected as a Member of the European Parliament and dual served in those positions, taking office on 22 September 1971.
After the election of 1972 Van der Stoel was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet Den Uyl, taking office on 11 May 1973. The Cabinet Den Uyl fell on 22 March 1977 after four years of tensions in the coalition and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity. After the election of 1977 Van der Stoel returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 8 June 1977 but he was still serving in the cabinet and because of dualism customs in the constitutional convention of Dutch politics he couldn't serve a dual mandate he subsequently resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives on 8 September 1977. The Cabinet Den Uyl was replaced by the Van Agt–Wiegel cabinet following the cabinet formation of 1977 and Van der Stoel subsequently returned as a Member of the House of Representatives after the resignation of Flip de Kam, taking office on 16 January 1978 serving as a frontbencher chairing the :nl:Tweede Kamercommissie|parliamentary committee for Foreign Affairs. 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 continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the first cabinet formation of 1982 when it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Van Agt III on 29 May 1982. In July 1982 Van der Stoel announced that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1982.
Van der Stoel remained active in national politics, in June 1983 he was nominated as the Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the United Nations, taking office on 1 July 1983. In June 1986 Van der Stoel was nominated as Member of the Council of State, he resigned as Permanent Representative the same day he was installed as a Member of the Council of State, taking office on 1 August 1986. Van der Stoel also served as an diplomat on behalf of the United Nations as an expert on Human rights. In December 1992 Van der Stoel was nominated as the first High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, he resigned a Member of the Council of State the same day he was installed as High Commissioner, serving from 1 January 1993 until 1 July 2001. Van der Stoel also became active in the public sector and occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards and as an advocate, lobbyist and activist for Human rights, Minority rights, Humanitarianism and Democracy. Van der Stoel also served as a distinguished professor of Peace and conflict studies, Minority rights International relations, International law and European law at the Leiden University holding the Cleveringa Chair from 1 April 1999 until 1 April 2000 and as distinguished visiting professor of International law and European law at the Tilburg University from 1 January 2001 until 1 January 2003.
Van der Stoel was known for his abilities as a negotiator and consensus builder. Van der Stoel continued to comment on political affairs until his death at the age of 86.

Biography

Early life and career

Van der Stoel attended the Gymnasium Leiden from June 1937 until June 1943, and applied at the Leiden University in June 1943 majoring in Law and obtaining an Bachelor of Laws degree in December 1945 before graduating with an Master of Laws degree in July 1947. Van der Stoel continued to study at the Leiden University for a postgraduate education in Sociology and worked as a student researcher before obtaining an Bachelor of Social Science degree June 1947 and an Master of Social Science degree in July 1953. Van der Stoel worked as a researcher for the Wiardi Beckman Foundation, the scientific bureau of the Partij van de Arbeid, from August 1953 until April 1958 and as a political consultant for the Labour Party from April 1958 until July 1965.
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. That year, he became international secretary for the PvdA.
and Prime Minister Joop den Uyl during a meeting at the Catshuis on 2 November 1974.
Adolfo Suárez and Prime Minister Joop den Uyl during a meeting at the Catshuis on 29 August 1977.
with Max van der Stoel, 1989

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. This provoked harsh criticism by the Czechoslovak authorities and president Gustáv Husák cancelled scheduled meeting with van der Stoel.
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.

Freedom awards

Honorary degrees