Max Kohnstamm (22 May 1914 – 20 October 2010) was a Dutch historian and diplomat.

Early life

Max Kohnstamm was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the son of Philip Kohnstamm, a physicist, philosopher and pedagogue of Jewish-German origin. His father was married to one of the daughters of Jean Baptiste August Kessler, who helped create the company now known as

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; one of his uncles was Geldolph Adriaan Kessler, who helped create the Dutch steel industry. During World War II, Kohnstamm and Kessler were both held hostage by the Germans along with other prominent Dutchmen at Beekvliet in Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel; they became quite close there despite the difference in age. He was one of the founding fathers of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

by playing a major part in the 1950s in developing 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 ...

(ECSC) and then of the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

Education

Kohnstamm was educated at Amsterdam University, where he studied Modern History, before taking up a fellowship at

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, Washington, D.C. During 1938 and 1939 he travelled through the United States as part of his studies. His correspondence with his father during this period discussed his impressions of the United States and his concerns with the looming war.

Career

Kohnstamm was private secretary to Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands from 1945 to 1948, then served with the Netherlands Foreign Office from 1948 to 1952. During this time he was head of its German Bureau and Director of European Affairs. He was Vice President of the Netherlands' Schuman Plan delegation in 1950, serving as Secretary to the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community from 1952 to 1956. He was Vice President of the Action Committee for the United States of Europe from 1956. He was President of the

European University Institute The European University Institute (EUI) is an international postgraduate and post-doctoral research-intensive university and an intergovernmental organisation with juridical personality, established by its founding member states to contribu ...

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. He was Chairman of the Trilateral Commission in Europe.

Accomplishments

He was a former member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group. He was the Founding European Chairman of the Trilateral Commission. In 2004, Kohnstamm was awarded the 'Freedom from Fear' Four Freedoms Award by the Roosevelt Stichting. Jacob Kohnstamm is his son.

Early life

Education

Career

Accomplishments

Death

References

Sources

External links