Joseph Luns
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His Excellency Joseph Luns |
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Joseph Luns in 1979
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| 5th Secretary General of NATO | |
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In office 1 October 1971 – 25 June 1984 |
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| Preceded by | Manlio Brosio |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Carrington |
| Member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands | |
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In office 11 May 1971 – 1 October 1971 |
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In office 23 February 1967 – 5 April 1967 |
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In office 3 July 1956 – 3 October 1956 |
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| Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands | |
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In office 2 September 1952 – 6 July 1971 Serving with Johan Beyen (1952–1956) |
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| Prime Minister |
Willem Drees (1956–1958) Louis Beel (1958–1959) Jan de Quay (1959–1963) Victor Marijnen (1963–1965) Jo Cals (1965–1966) Jelle Zijlstra (1966–1967) Piet de Jong (1967–1971) |
| Preceded by | Johan Beyen |
| Succeeded by | Norbert Schmelzer |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Joseph Antoine Marie Hubert Luns 28 August 1911 Rotterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | 17 July 2002 (aged 90) Brussels, Belgium |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Political party |
Catholic People's Party (1945–1974) |
| Other political affiliations |
Roman-Catholic State Party (1938–1945) |
| Spouse(s) | Lia van Heemstra (m. 1939–1990; her death) |
| Children | Huib Corrie |
| Alma mater |
University of Amsterdam (Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws) Leiden University (Bachelor of Laws) London School of Economics (Bachelor of Economics) |
| Occupation | Politician Diplomat civil servant |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Joseph Marie Antoine Hubert Luns (28 August 1911 – 17 July 2002) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP), now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). Luns was one of the most popular Dutch politicians of the time, famous for his dry wit and ready puns. He survived a total of eight cabinets and stayed in office nineteen years continuously, becoming the longest-serving Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2 September 1952 until 6 July 1971. He retired from Dutch politics and became the 5th (and also longest-serving) Secretary General of NATO for 13 years from 1 October 1971 until 25 June 1984.
Luns was born in a Roman Catholic, francophile and artistic family. His mother's family originated from Alsace-Lorraine but had moved to Belgium after the annexation of the region by the German Empire in 1871. His father, Huib Luns, was a versatile artist and a gifted educationalist who ended his career as professor of architectural drawing at the Delft University of Technology. Luns got his secondary education in Amsterdam and Brussels. He opted to become a commissioned officer of the Dutch Royal Navy but registered too late to be selected. Therefore, Luns decided to study law at Amsterdam University from 1932 to 1937.
Like his father, Luns demonstrated a preference for conservative and authoritarian political parties and an interest in international politics. As a young student he positioned himself on the political right, favouring a strong authority for the state and being of the opinion that socialism, because of its idealistic ideology, had fostered the rise of fascism and nazism. Luns himself had been a silent member of the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (NSB) but left in 1936 before this party chose a strongly anti-Semitic course.
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