Joseph Luns

Joseph Luns
Luns in 1979
5th Secretary General of NATO
In office 1 October 1971 – 25 June 1984
Preceded by	Manlio Brosio
Succeeded by	The Lord Carrington
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 13 October 1956 – 6 July 1971
Prime Minister	See list 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
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 11 May 1971 – 1 October 1971
In office 23 February 1967 – 5 April 1967
In office 3 July 1956 – 3 October 1956
Parliamentary group	Catholic People's Party
Minister for Foreign Policy
In office 2 September 1952 – 13 October 1956
Prime Minister	Willem Drees
Preceded by	Eelco van Kleffens (1947)
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Personal details
Born	Joseph Antoine Marie Hubert Luns [Note] (1911-08-28)28 August 1911 Rotterdam, Netherlands
Died	17 July 2002(2002-07-17) (aged 90) Brussels, Belgium
Political party	Catholic People's Party (1945–1972)
Other political affiliations	Independent Christian Democrat (Conservative Catholic) (from 1972)
Height	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Spouse	Baroness Lia van Heemstra ​ ​ (m. 1939; died 1990)​
Relations	Theo Luns [nl] (brother) Ella van Heemstra (niece in law) Audrey Hepburn (first niece-in-law once removed)
Children	2
Parent	Huib Luns (1881–1942) (father)
Alma mater	Leiden University (LLB, LLM) London School of Economics (BEcon)
Occupation	Politician diplomat civil servant jurist economist historian
Signature
Military service
Branch/service	Royal Netherlands Navy
Years of service	1930–1931 (Conscription) 1931–1936 (Reserve)
Rank	Warrant officer
Unit	Netherlands Coastguard
Battles/wars	Cold War

Joseph Marie Antoine Hubert Luns (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjoːzəf ˈlʏns]; 28 August 1911 – 17 July 2002) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP), now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), diplomat, and jurist. He served as Secretary General of NATO from 1 October 1971 until 25 June 1984.^[1]

Luns attended Saint Ignatius Gymnasium in Amsterdam from April 1924 until June 1930. He was conscripted in the Coastguard of the Royal Netherlands Navy serving as a warrant officer from June 1930 until July 1931. He applied at the University of Amsterdam in July 1931 majoring in law before transferring to the Leiden University in November 1932, obtaining a Bachelor of Laws degree in June 1933 and graduating with a Master of Laws degree in July 1937. He applied at the London School of Economics of the University of London in January 1938 for a postgraduate education in economics, obtaining a Bachelor of Economics degree in June 1938.

In September 1971 Luns was nominated as the next Secretary General of NATO. He resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives the same day he was installed as secretary general, serving from 1 October 1971 to 25 June 1984. He retired after 31 years in national politics and became active in the public sector, where he was a diplomat and lobbyist for several economic delegations on behalf of the government and as an advocate for United States–European Union relations and European integration.