François Seydoux de Clausonne

1970

The text of the medal presented reads:

Karlspreis 1970 der Stadt Aachen für François Seydoux de Clausonne
Freiheit durch Einheit

Vita

1905

Born in Berlin, the son of a French diplomat

Philosophy and law at the Sorbonne and the Ecole des Sciences Politiques in Paris

Study

1928

Entered the French Foreign Ministry's diplomatic service

Secretary at the French Embassy in Berlin

1933-1936

1936-1941

Head of the Germany Department at the French Foreign Ministry

joins the resistance

1942

1949-1955

Head of the Europe Department at the French Foreign Ministry

Ambassador in Vienna

1956-1958

1958-1962

Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany

Second term of office as ambassador in Bonn

1965-1970

1963

Active participation in the Franco-German friendship agreement

deceased

1981

Text of the Certificate of Honour

On Ascension Day, 7 May 1970, in the Coronation Hall of the Town Hall, the former imperial palace, in Aachen, the International Charlemagne Prize for the year 1970 was awarded to the former French ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, François Seydoux de Clausonne, the profound connoisseur of Romanesque and Germanic intellectual life and their manifold interrelations, the guardian and tireless promoter of the Franco-German friendship pact, which is the cornerstone of the future European state.