Gaston Thorn
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Gaston Egmond Thorn (3 September 192826 August 2007) was a Luxembourg politician who served in a number of high-profile positions, both domestically and internationally. Amongst the posts that he held were the 19th
Prime Minister of Luxembourg german: Premierminister von Luxemburg , insignia = Lesser CoA luxembourg.svg , insigniasize = 100px , insigniacaption = Lesser coat of arms of Luxembourg , insigniaalt = , flag ...
(1974–1979),
President of the United Nations General Assembly The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly. Election ...
(1975), and the seventh President of the European Commission (1981–1985).


Life and career

Thorn was born in
Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Lu ...
. His early childhood however was spent in Strasbourg where his father worked for the French railways. At the outbreak of World War II the family returned to Luxembourg. While still at school he engaged in resistance activities during the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
occupation, and spent several months in prison. After the war he initially studied medicine in
Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
, then switched to law, and continued his studies in
Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
and Paris, and practised law in Luxembourg from 1955.Thewes, Guy
"Les gouvernements du Grand-Duché depuis 1848."
Service information et presse. Luxembourg: Imprimerie Centrale, 2011.
In 1957 he married Liliane Petit, a journalist. He entered politics in 1959, representing the liberal
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
. He was a member of the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
from 1959 to 1969. He was Chairman of the Democratic Party from 1962 to 1969. From 1961 to 1963 he was one of the aldermen of the City of Luxembourg. Thorn was Foreign Minister and Foreign Trade Minister of Luxembourg from 1969 to 1980,
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
from 1974 to 1979 and Minister of Economics from 1977 to 1980. He was also
President of the United Nations General Assembly The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly. Election ...
from 1975 to 1976 for its 30th session. As Prime Minister from 1974–1979 he presided over a socialist-liberal coalition, between his own Democratic Party and the
Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party The Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party ( lb, Lëtzebuerger Sozialistesch Aarbechterpartei, french: Parti ouvrier socialiste luxembourgeois, german: Luxemburger Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei), abbreviated to LSAP or POSL, is a social-democratic, pr ...
. This was the first Luxembourg government since World War II that did not involve the dominant
Christian Social People's Party The Christian Social People's Party ( lb, Chrëschtlech Sozial Vollekspartei, french: Parti populaire chrétien-social, german: Christlich Soziale Volkspartei), abbreviated to CSV or PCS, is the largest political party in Luxembourg. The party f ...
(CSV), and similarly, he was the first non-CSV prime minister since the war. He was the head of government even though his party had fewer seats in the legislature than their coalition partner.


European Commission

In 1980 Thorn was chosen as President of the Commission of the European Communities (now called the European Union), in succession to
Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...
. He took office on 12 January 1981. France and Britain had been against his appointment as Commission President, whereas his candidature was supported by the smaller countries and by West Germany, this because of Luxembourg's involvement in building up the Commission. His presidency was marked by several difficulties. It coincided with a time of economic and political crisis, of Eurosclerosis, inside the European Community. Relations between the Commission and British government under
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
declined, over her demands that Britain should be compensated by other countries for its share of payments towards the Commission budget. There was also tension due to other EC governments' reservations about Britain's role in the
Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
; and due to some European leaders' opposition to United States foreign policy and the deployment of cruise missiles and Pershing missiles in Europe. This was in addition to the long-running international recession, and occasional threats of trade wars. This all "combined to put the aspirations of Thorn and other supporters of European integration on hold". However, as EC President, Thorn did manage to reach agreement on a common fisheries policy, and laid the basis for Portugal and Spain joining the European Community. Greece had just joined when his mandate started in 1981. Although Thorn was not considered a very forceful Commission President, during his term of office the Commission continued to expand its power, both at the expense of the national governments of EC members, and of the European Parliament, with which the Commission engaged in a constant power struggle. In this Thorn laid the groundwork for his successor
Jacques Delors Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (born 20 July 1925) is a French politician who served as the 8th President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. He served as Minister of Finance of France from 1981 to 1984. He was a Member of the European Par ...
, who took the Commission to the height of its power.


Post-Presidency

After leaving the Commission Presidency in 1985, Thorn went into business. He was chairman of Luxembourg's largest media company CLT, and president of the
Banque Internationale à Luxembourg Banque Internationale à Luxembourg S.A. (BIL, "International Bank in Luxembourg") is the oldest private bank in Luxembourg. It offers commercial and corporate banking services. Since 2018, it has been majority-owned by China-headquartered Legend ...
from 1985 to 1999. Thorn remained active in international and political affairs, as President of the International European Movement and as a member of the
Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...
, the Bilderberg conference and of the
Jean Monnet Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet (; 9 November 1888 – 16 March 1979) was a French civil servant, entrepreneur, diplomat, financier, administrator, and political visionary. An influential supporter of European unity, he is considered one of the ...
Committee. He was also president of the
Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism around ...
. He was married to Liliane Thorn-Petit (1933-2008), a journalist, with whom he had one son.


Honours

* Grand Cross of the
Order of Adolphe of Nassau The Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolph of Nassau (french: Ordre de Mérite civil et militaire d’Adolphe de Nassau) is an order of merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for meritorious service to the Grand Duke, the Grand-Ducal House ...
* Grand Cross of the
Pian Order , image = , caption = Knight's cross of the Order of Pius IX , awarded_by = , type = Papal order of knighthood , established = 1847 , motto = ''VIRTUTI ET MERITO''(Virtue and Merit) , day ...
* Grand Cross of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
* Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the
Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...
* Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...


See also

*
List of prime ministers of Luxembourg german: Premierminister von Luxemburg , insignia = Lesser CoA luxembourg.svg , insigniasize = 100px , insigniacaption = Lesser coat of arms of Luxembourg , insigniaalt = , flag ...
* Thorn Ministry *
Werner-Thorn Ministry The Werner-Thorn Government was the government of Luxembourg between 16 July 1979 and 20 July 1984. It was a coalition between the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), and the Democratic Party. It came about after the 1979 general election. ...


Further reading


Obituary, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 28 August 2007


References

, - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{commons category, Gaston Thorn 1928 births 2007 deaths Prime Ministers of Luxembourg Presidents of the European Commission Luxembourgian European Commissioners Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly Presidents of the Liberal International Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg Ministers for the Economy of Luxembourg Deputy Prime Ministers of Luxembourg Ministers for Justice of Luxembourg Democratic Party (Luxembourg) politicians 20th-century Luxembourgian lawyers People from Luxembourg City Permanent Representatives of Luxembourg to the United Nations Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Luxembourgian bankers European Commissioners 1981–1985