Born in Belgium, Robert Muller grew up in the Alsace-Lorraine region in France as a French citizen. His childhood home was on the border. The border issues he saw as a child had a significant impact on his life and his decision to work at the United Nations. During his youth Robert Muller experienced constant political and cultural turmoil. He knew the horrors of World War II, of being a refugee, of the Nazi occupation in France, imprisonment and escape from prison. During the war he was a member of the French Resistance where towards the end of the war he unsuccessfully tried to prevent the slaughter of a group of captured German soldiers. This was a major life event that led to work for peace. After the war he returned home and earned a Doctorate of Law from the University of Strasbourg. In 1948 he entered and won an essay contest on how to govern the world, the prize of which was an internship at the newly created United Nations.
Career
Dr. Muller began working at the United Nations just as it was forming. He devoted the next 40 years of his life behind the scenes at the United Nations, focusing his energies on nurturing a better world, including working for the environment, economics and peace. He was instrumental in the conception of many multilateral bodies, including the UN Development Programme, the World Food Programme, the UN Population Fund, and the World Youth Assembly. He rose through the ranks at the UN to the official position of Assistant Secretary-General and served under three Secretaries-General. Robert Muller created a "World Core Curriculum" that earned him the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education in 1989. The "World Core Curriculum" helped inspire the growing Global Education movement. More than 30 Robert Muller schools were founded throughout the world, including LIFE School in Panajachel, Guatemala, from which students have gone on to pursue degrees in International Affairs. He was the recipient of multiple awards and honors, including the Albert Schweitzer International Prize for the Humanities and the Eleanor Roosevelt Man of Vision Award. In addition to his duties at the University for Peace, he devoted time to his writings and was an internationally acclaimed, multilingual speaker and author of fourteen books published in various languages. One of his major writings came from writing one idea-dream each day for nurturing a better world. His goal was to have written 2000 ideas and dreams by the beginning of the new millennium. He achieved this and went on to write over 7000 ideas and dreams. In his speeches he spoke of these idea-dreams and over the years noted that many of these ideas were being worked on and some had been completed. At the prompting of many of his friends, admirers and non-governmental organizations, Robert Muller was a candidate as a global citizen in 1996 for the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations. He was also nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Robert Muller died on September 20, 2010.
