Robert Schuman (French pronunciation: [ʁɔbɛʁ ʃuman]; 29 June 1886 – 4 September 1963) was a noted Luxembourgish-born German-French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat (M.R.P.) and an independent political thinker and activist. Twice Prime Minister of France, a reformist Minister of Finance and a Foreign Minister, he was instrumental in building post-war European and trans-Atlantic institutions and is regarded as one of the founders of the European Union, the Council of Europe and NATO.[1] The 1964–1965 academic year at the College of Europe was named in his honour.

Lars Bergqvist, the Swedish ambassador to the Vatican, said: "We should note that the EU was founded by devoted Catholics, such as Adenauer (German), Schumann (French) and de Gasperi (Italian). All of them had the union of Europe as an object." (This took place immediately after the Catholic leaders Hitler, Mussolini and Franco had failed in their attempts to do the same.)