Christian Calmes (11 July 1913 – 5 July 1995) was a

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

ish

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, lawyer, and historian. He served as

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the precursor to the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and less formally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) a ...

from its inception as part of the

European Coal and Steel Community The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a European organization created after World War II to integrate Europe's coal and steel industries into a single common market based on the principle of supranationalism which would be governe ...

in 1952 until 1973. He attended the Lycée classique in

Echternach Echternach (, ; or locally ) is a commune with town status in the canton of Echternach, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach lies near the border with Germany, and is the oldest town in Luxembourg. History The town grew around the Abbey of Echt ...

, before studying law in Strasbourg and Paris. In 1940, as a sign of protest against the Nazi occupation of Luxembourg he closed his legal firm, and became a manual labourer in Karelshaff near

Colmar-Berg Colmar-Berg (, ) is a Communes of Luxembourg, commune and town in central Luxembourg, in the Mersch (canton), canton of Mersch. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Attert River, Attert and Alzette. Colmar-Berg is the site of the Grand D ...

. As a member of the Resistance, he was imprisoned in October 1943 in the Grund, and was later interned in Hinzert concentration camp for 18 months. After escaping in March 1945, he hid until the end of the war. After the war, he worked again as a lawyer, then worked for the government from 1947, as an attaché, legation secretary, government councillor and highest-ranking diplomat in the foreign ministry. He was involved in the negotiations for the Benelux Treaty. From 1981 he was court marshal to the Grand Ducal Family. Calmes was President of the Young Lawyers of Luxembourg from 1945 to 1946. He wrote two books on the history of Luxembourg: ''Histoire contemporaine du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg'' (1968) and ''Au fil de l'Histoire'' (1968, with his father). They have been printed in several editions since, and the former has been widely used as a

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions, but also of learners ( ...

. Calmes was Grand Marshal of Luxembourg from 1981 until 1984. He died in

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional ) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur Re ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, in 1995, at the age of 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calmes, Christian Luxembourgian diplomats 20th-century Luxembourgian historians 1913 births 1995 deaths People from Echternach Luxembourgian civil servants 20th-century Luxembourgian lawyers Secretaries-general of the Council of the European Union