Max van der Stoel

Max van der Stoel
Max van der Stoel in 1981
High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
In office 1 January 1993 – 1 July 2001
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Rolf Ekeus
Member of the Council of State of the Netherlands
In office 1 August 1986 – 1 January 1993
Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the United Nations
In office 1 July 1983 – 1 August 1986
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
In office 11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982
Prime Minister	Dries van Agt
Preceded by	Chris van der Klaauw
Succeeded by	Dries van Agt
In office 11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977
Prime Minister	Joop den Uyl
Preceded by	Norbert Schmelzer
Succeeded by	Chris van der Klaauw
Member of the European Parliament for the Netherlands
In office 22 September 1971 – 11 May 1973
State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
In office 22 July 1965 – 22 November 1966 Serving with Leo de Block
Prime Minister	Jo Cals
Preceded by	Isaäc Nicolaas Theodoor Diepenhorst
Succeeded by	Leo de Block
Member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands
In office 16 January 1978 – 11 September 1981
In office 8 June 1977 – 8 September 1977
In office 23 February 1967 – 11 May 1973
In office 5 June 1963 – 22 July 1965
Member of the Senate of the Netherlands
In office 27 September 1960 – 5 June 1963
Personal details
Born	Maximilianus van der Stoel (1924-08-03)3 August 1924 Voorschoten, Netherlands
Died	23 April 2011(2011-04-23) (aged 86) The Hague, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Labour Party
Spouse(s)	Maria Johanna Aritia de Kanter (m. 1953–1976; divorced)
Children	4 daughters and 1 son
Alma mater	Leiden University (Master of Laws)
Occupation	Politician Diplomat Professor

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 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.