Schuman, Robert (rōbĕr` sh

mäN`), 1886–1963, French statesman and lawyer, b. grand duchy of Luxembourg. A member of the Catholic Mouvement Républicain Populaire (MRP), he was finance minister (1946, 1947) and premier (1947–48). He continued as foreign minister (1948–53), and as such, did much to promote European unity. In 1950 he proposed the creation of a West European coal and steel pool. This so-called Schuman Plan, which had been drafted by Jean Monnet, became effective in 1952 with the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the first step toward the creation of the European Union European Community (EC), an economic and political confederation of European nations, and other organizations (with the same member nations) that are responsible for a common foreign and security policy and for cooperation on justice and home affairs.
..... Click the link for more information. . Schuman was president (1958–60) of the European Parliamentary Assembly.

Schuman, Robert

(born June 29, 1886, Luxembourg—died Sept. 4, 1963, Metz, France) French statesman. He was a member of the French National Assembly from 1919. After working in the French Resistance in World War II, he helped found the Popular Republican Movement. He served as finance minister (1946), premier (1947–48), foreign minister (1948–52), and minister of justice (1955–56). In 1950 he proposed the Schuman Plan to promote European economic and military unity, which led to the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community (EEC). He served as president of the EEC's consultative assembly (1958–60).