Paul Helminger (28 October 1940 – 16 April 2021) was a

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

ish

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

who was

Mayor of Luxembourg City The Mayor of Luxembourg City is the mayor of Luxembourg's capital and largest city, Luxembourg City. The officeholder, like other mayors in Luxembourg, is appointed by the Grand Duke amongst council members. Due to the city's importance within the ...

from 1999 to November 2011. He was a member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon Res ...

for the Democratic Party (from 1994 to 2012, and previously from 1984 until 1989).

Biography

Born in

Esch-sur-Alzette Esch-sur-Alzette (; lb, Esch-Uelzecht ; german: Esch an der Alzette or ''Esch an der Alzig'') is the second city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the country's second-most populous commune, with a population of 35,040 inhabitants, . It lies ...

in 1940, Paul Helminger moved with his family to Belair, a quarter in western

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 Gr ...

, when he was one year old. After he attained his baccalaureate in the

Athénée de Luxembourg The Athénée de Luxembourg ( en, Luxembourg Athenaeum), is a high school situated in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. Throughout the school's history of more than 400 years, the name was changed repeatedly. It's nowadays commonly called ...

in 1959, Helminger went on to study law at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

until 1963. At the same time, he also studied at the

Institut d'Études Politiques An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

and attained a degree in

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such ...

in 1963. In 1964, he finished his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...

, before moving to the United States to finish his studies in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

. Helminger started to work in diplomacy for the state of Luxembourg in 1966 and represented the country in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

and

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

, until 1974, when

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 ...

Gaston Thorn 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 Luxembour ...

made him his Chief of Cabinet. In the Werner-Thorn Ministry, he was from 1979 to 1984 Secretary of State for external relations,

development aid Development aid is a type of foreign/international/overseas aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. Closely-related concepts include: develop ...

and economy. He was

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

from 1984 to 1989, and again from 1994 to 2012. Since 1987, Helminger was also member of the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

. He became

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members ...

in 1991 and mayor in 1999. On 21 November 2011, he presided over the city council for the last time, retiring in favour of

Xavier Bettel Xavier Bettel (; born 3 March 1973) is a Luxembourger lawyer and politician serving as Prime Minister of Luxembourg since 2013. He was previously a member of the Chamber of Deputies (1999–2013) and Mayor of Luxembourg City (2011–2013). Be ...

. Helminger received a standing ovation for his excellent work as mayor of the city. In 2012, Helminger was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Luxair, the Luxembourgish national flag carrier, a post he held until 2019 when he was succeeded by Giovanni Giallombardo. He died on 17 April 2021 at the age of 80.

Private life

Paul Helminger was married and had seven children. He was president of the Luxembourg Tennis Federation from 1994 to 2003. , -

External links

Biography on dp.lu for the 2009 election campaign (German)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helminger, Paul Mayors of Luxembourg City Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) from Centre Councillors in Luxembourg City Democratic Party (Luxembourg) politicians 1940 births 2021 deaths People from Esch-sur-Alzette Alumni of the Athénée de Luxembourg Presidents of the Luxembourg Tennis Federation