Council of Europe gets its first Secretary General

The choice of who should be the first Council of Europe Secretary General was the result of a compromise between Britain and France during discussions about how the Council of Europe should function. In return for the French agreeing that the Assembly should be consultative only, the British agreed to a Frenchman leading the Organisation: Jacques Camille Paris, who served from August 1949 until his death in 1953. The Rose Window of Strasbourg Cathedral, donated by the Council of Europe in 1956 and featuring the European flag above the image of the Virgin Mary, is dedicated to him.

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