Hendrik Brugmans

Hendrik Brugmans ( Henri Brugmans, born December 13, 1906 in Amsterdam, † March 12, 1997 in Bruges ) was a Dutch linguist and politician. Brugmans is considered an important pioneer of the European Movement.

Life

Brugmans was born the son of the historian Hajo Brugmans and his wife Maria Keizer. He studied French literature at the University of Amsterdam and later moved to the Sorbonne, where he received his doctorate in 1934. He then worked as a secondary school teacher. From 1948 to 1950 he taught French literature at the University of Utrecht.

During the Second World War he was a member of the Democratic - Sociaal Arbeiderspartij MP in the Dutch parliament. In 1942 he was arrested by the Gestapo. After his release in 1944 he joined the Dutch resistance movement.

After the war he co-founded the Union of European Federalists, whose first president was elected. In 1950 he founded the College of Europe in Bruges, which he headed until 1972 as rector.

In recognition of his tireless work for the unification of Europe and in appreciation of good heavy task he has set himself as the founder of the European University in Bruges, he was awarded on May 3, 1951, the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen as a courageous pioneer of a united Europe.

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