Max van der Stoel

Maximilianus "Max" van der Stoel (3 August 1924 – 23 April 2011) was a Dutch politician and diplomat, member of the Labour Party (PvdA) and activist who served as High Commissioner on National Minorities of the OSCE from 1 January 1993 until 1 July 2001.

Van der Stoel studied Law at the Leiden University obtaining a Master of Laws degree followed by a postgraduate education in Sociology at his alma mater obtaining a Master of Social Science degree.

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 a 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 at the Wiardi Beckman Foundation from April 1953 until August 1958 and for the Labour Party party board from June 1958 until July 1965.

Van der Stoel worked as a researcher for the Wiardi Beckman Foundation, the scientific bureau of the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA, the Dutch labour party), from August 1953 until April 1958 and as a political consultant for the Labour Party from April 1958 until July 1965.

After the Senate election of 1960 Van der Stoel was elected as a Member of the Senate on 27 September 1960 serving as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Foreign Affairs.

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.

After the election of 1963 Van der Stoel was elected as a member of the House of Representatives on 5 June 1963 and served as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Foreign Affairs.

Van der Stoel was appointed as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet Cals taking office on 22 July 1965.

The Cabinet Cals fell just one year into its term after a major political crisis and was replaced on 22 November 1966.

After the election of 1967 Van der Stoel returned to the House of House of Representatives on 23 February 1967 and again served as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Foreign Affairs.

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 just before the end of its term.

From 1973 to 1977 and 1981 to 1982 he was the Netherlands Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In the 1973 October War when Egypt and Syria attacked Israel, van der Stoel took a highly pro-Israeli position and was regarded as the most pro-Israeli foreign minister in Europe.

To punish the Dutch for their pro-Israel stance, the Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia placed a total oil embargo on shipping oil to the Netherlands, which was one of the nations most affected by the 1973 "oil shock".

After the election of 1977 Van der Stoel returned to the House of Representatives serving from 8 June 1977 until 8 September 1977 and again from 16 January 1978 serving as a frontbencher chairing the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and spokesperson for European 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.

After the election of 1981 Van der Stoel was appointed again 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 and was replaced with the caretaker Cabinet Van Agt III on 29 May 1982.

Shortly thereafter Van der Stoel announced that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1982.

Van der Stoel continued to be active in politics and in June 1983 he was nominated as the next Ambassador to the United Nations serving from 1 July 1983 until 1 August 1986 when he was appointed as a Member of the Council of State serving until 1 January 1993.

Van der Stoel was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 17 May 1991 and continued to comment on political affairs until his death in April 2011 at the age of 86.

In December 1992 Van der Stoel was nominated as the first High Commissioner on National Minorities of the OSCE serving from 1 January 1993 until 1 July 2001.

Van der Stoel also became active as a diplomat for the United Nations, serving as an expert on Human rights.

Van der Stoel retired from active politics at 76 and became active in the public sector as a non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government and as an occasional diplomat for and diplomatic delegations, and worked as a distinguished professor of Peace and conflict studies, Minority rights and International relations at his alma mater from April 1999 until April 2000 and as distinguished visiting professor of International and European law at the Tilburg University from January 2001 until January 2003.

Following his retirement Van der Stoel continued to be active as an advocate and activist for the Human rights and Minority rights.

Van der Stoel was known for his abilities as a skillful negotiator and effective mediator.

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 and its Research Institute in his honour.

Van der Stoel was a member of the Advisory Board of the European Association of History Educators (EUROCLIO).

In 2013, the PvdA-associated Foundation Max van der Stoel (FMS), which promotes international solidarity, human rights and democracy among other things, was named after Van der Stoel.