Robert Schuman
 Robert Schuman    | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Robert Schuman 29 June 1886 Luxembourg City, Luxembourg |
| Died | 1963-09-04 (Age 77) Scy-Chazelles, Lorraine, France |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Member of | Le Cercle |
| Party | Popular Republican Movement |
Robert Schuman, a strong catholic was Prime minister of France and the first President of the European Parliamentary Assembly, and a founding member of Le Cercle.
Career
Moved to France in 1919 and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies. A moderate conservative he joined the more liberal Popular Republican Movement in 1940. In 1940 Schuman was arrested by the Gestapo, but escaped. In 1942 he joined the French Resistance.
After WWII he was prime minister 1947-1948 and foreign minister 1948-1953, in successive cabinets of Queuille, Bidault, Pleven, Faure, and Pinay. He attended the May 1948 Congress of Europe, which was convened by the United Europe Movement in The Hague. It was organized by Jean Monnet with the help of Joseph Retinger. Its chairman was Winston Churchill while Alcide de Gasperi, Paul Henri Spaak, Leon Blum and Konrad Adenauer attended the conference. Presented the Schuman Plan in 1949, which became the basis for the [[European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) that was established in 1952.[1]
Schuman Plan
Fellow member of Le Cercle, Jean Monnet was the person who had written the entire "Schuman Plan"; Schuman was only a frontman.[1]
David Rockefeller reports that Schuman was a founding member of the initial Le Cercle (the "Pesenti Group"). In 1958 Schuman was elected president of the European Assembly in Strasbourg. He was a Knight of the Order of Pope Pius IX. Schuman was an intensely religious man and was strongly influenced by the writings of Pius XII, St Thomas Aquinas and Jacques Maritain.[1]
"In France, Opus Dei has had a particularly notable influence going back as far as 1938. It became strong in the army and among ex-Vichyites and right-wing Catholic integristes. It was said to have influenced Robert Schumann, Antoine Pinay and Paul Baudoin..."[2]
According to many articles in different languages Schuman was a great supporter of Opus Dei and could well have been a member.
References
- ↑ a b c http://www.isgp.nl/Le_Cercle_membership_list
- ↑ August 1984, Issue 5, Lobster Magazine, 'Brief Notes On The Political Importance Of Secret Societies'
