Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi

Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi
Count of Coudenhove-Kalergi
Coudenhove-Kalergi in 1930
Born	Aoyama Eijiro (1894-11-16)16 November 1894 Tokyo, Japan
Died	27 July 1972(1972-07-27) (aged 77) Schruns, Austria
Noble family	Coudenhove-Kalergi
Father	Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi
Mother	Mitsuko Aoyama
Occupation	Politician

Richard Nikolaus Eijiro, Count of Coudenhove-Kalergi^[1] (16 November 1894 – 27 July 1972), was a politician, philosopher, and count of Coudenhove-Kalergi. A pioneer of European integration, he served as the founding president of the Paneuropean Union for 49 years. His parents were Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi, an Austro-Hungarian diplomat, and Mitsuko Aoyama, the daughter of an oil merchant, antiques-dealer and major landowner in Tokyo.^[2] His childhood name in Japan was Eijiro Aoyama. Being a native Austrian-Hungarian citizen, he became a Czechoslovak citizen in 1919 and then took French citizenship from 1939 until his death.

His first book, Pan-Europa, was published in 1923 and contained a membership form for the Pan-Europa movement, which held its first Congress in 1926 in Vienna. In 1927, Aristide Briand was elected honorary president of the Pan-Europa movement. Public figures who attended Pan-Europa congresses included Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann and Sigmund Freud.^[3]

Coudenhove-Kalergi was the first recipient of the Charlemagne Prize in 1950. The 1972–1973 academic year at the College of Europe was named in his honour. Coudenhove-Kalergi proposed Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" as the music for the European Anthem. He also proposed a Europe Day, a European postage stamp,^[4] and many artifacts for the movement (e.g. badges and pennants).^[5]