Jean Monnet: "Father" of the European Union
Jean Monnet (1888-1979) was born into a small brandy-producing family in Cognac. He left school at 16, and after a period gaining experience of financial affairs in London, he worked for the family business, travelling widely.
In 1915, Jean Monnet was declared unfit for military service, and spent the war instead in the civil service. He rose rapidly to the position of representative of the French government in London.
After the war, Jean Monnet was appointed deputy secretary-general of the League of Nations, but returned to private life when the family firm got into difficulties in 1922. He subsequently became an investment banker and financier.
In the Second World War, Jean Monnet worked first for the British government in Washington, then for Charles de Gaulle in Algiers. He was instrumental in preventing the British and Americans from replacing de Gaulle, who in 1946 appointed him as head of the Commissariat du Plan (French Economic Planning Commission).
Jean Monnet devised both the Schuman Plan and the Pleven Plan for a European Defence Community.
Jean Monnet was the first President of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community between 1952 and 1955. Following the defeat of the proposed European Defence Community in the French National Assembly, he resigned from the High Authority to e free to promote further schemes for European integration, setting up the Action Committee for the United States of Europe.
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