Catherine Lalumière became the ninth Secretary General when she took office on 1 June 1989. She is the first woman to have held the post.

The project “Stories in History” invites you to take a journey through time and space, through a series of texts written by Council of Europe staff and prominent figures who have worked with the...

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Jacques Camille Paris took office as the first Secretary General of the Council of Europe on 11 August 1949.

Marija Pejčinović Burić (Croatia) began her position as Secretary General of the Council of Europe on 18 September 2019. 
She is the 14th Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the...

Léon Marchal took office as the second Secretary General on 21 September 1953.

Lodovico Benvenuti took office as the third Secretary General on 19 September 1957. 

Peter Smithers became the fourth Secretary General when he took office on 15 March 1964.

Lujo Tončić-Sorinj took office as the fifth Secretary General on 16 September 1969.

Georg Kahn-Ackerman became the sixth Secretary General  when he took office on 17 September 1974.

Franz Karasek became the seventh Secretary General when he took office on 1 October 1979, the second Austrian to hold the post.

Marcelino Oreja Aguirre became the eighth Secretary General when he took office on 1 October 1984.

Daniel Tarschys became the tenth Secretary General when he took office on 1 June 1994.

Walter Schwimmer took office on 1 September 1999, the eleventh Secretary General and the third person from Austria to hold the post.

Terry Davis took office as the twelfth Secretary General on 1 September 2004, the second person from the United Kingdom to hold the post.

Thorbjørn Jagland made history on 24 June 2014, when for the first time a serving Secretary General of the Council of Europe was re-elected to a second term in office. He took office as the...

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