Max van der Stoel

Maximilianus "Max" van der Stoel (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌmɑksimiliˈjaːnɵs ˈmɑks fɑn dɛr ˈstul]; 3 August 1924 – 23 April 2011) was a Dutch politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. He served as the first High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

On 17 May 1991, he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State.

Van der Stoel with Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, 1977

Van der Stoel studied law at Leiden University where he obtained an LL.M. degree. From 1953 to 1958 he worked for the Wiardi Beckman Stichting, the scientific bureau of the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA, the Dutch labour party) and became international secretary for the PvdA in 1963. From 1973 to 1977 and 1981 to 1982 he was the Netherlands Minister of Foreign 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.

He was appointed as the first High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in December 1992 and took up his functions in January 1993. He remained in office until 2000. Max van der Stoel was a member of the Bilderberg Group.

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 in his honour.

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

Honours of the Netherlands

• Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (5 December 1966)
• The Honorary medal for Initiative and Ingenuity of the Order of the House of Orange (19 September 1974)
• Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau (11 April 1978)
• Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau (9 September 1982)
• Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (31 August 1999)

Foreign honours

• Grand Cordon of the Honorary Order of the Palm (1977, Suriname)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix (1977, Greece)
• Grand Officier of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1996, Czech Republic)
• Cross (or 1st Class) of the Order of the White Double Cross (2001, Slovakia)
• Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise of the Fourth Class (2001, Ukraine)
• Knight Commander (KCMG) of the Order of St Michael and St George (2006, United Kingdom)

Freedom awards

• Freedom of Speech of the Four Freedoms Award (1982)
• Helène de Montigny award (December 1991)
• Dr. J.P. van Praag award (1 June 1993, Netherlands)
• Geuzenpenning (1993, Netherlands)
• Wateler Peace award (30 oktober 1996)

Honorary appointments

• Minister of State (17 May 1991, Netherlands)

Honorary degrees

• Honorary doctorate in Law, University of Athens (1977, Greece)
• Honorary doctorate in Law, Utrecht University (1994, Netherlands)
• Honorary doctorate in Law, Pázmány Péter Catholic University (1999, Hungary)
• Honorary Doctor, South East European University (2005, Republic of Macedonia)

Other

• In 2014, a new park in Prague (in Jan Patočka street) was named in van der Stoel's honour.
• In 2017, forty years after Van der Stoel's meeting with Jan Patočka, a memorial created by Dominik Lang is unveiled in Parku Maxe van der Stoel.