Posted on 11 November 2013
The Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU) has opened the files of the mathematician Henri Cartan (1904-2008) which concern his federalist activities. The Cartan fonds is made up of 3 linear metres of documents and illustrates, along with other fonds held at the HAEU such as the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and the European Association of Teachers (AEDE), his activities in favour of a federal Europe.
Henri Cartan was born in Nancy in 1904 but grew up in Paris. Following in the footsteps of his father, the eminent mathematician Elie Cartan, he studied at the Ecole normale supérieure where he obtained a Doctorate in Mathematics. Assistant in the University of Lille (1929) and later Professor of Mathematics at the University of Strasbourg (1931-1940), he participated in 1935 in the foundation of the Bourbaki Group. In 1940, he was appointed to the University of the Sorbonne (1940-1969) before being temporarily seconded to the University of Strasbourg (1945-1947).
At the time of his return to Paris, it appears that the debate on the European Defence Community led him in the direction of the European Federalist Movement. He became further convinced that the construction of a free Europe would come about by a French-German rapprochement. In 1956, he participated also in the creation of the AEDE where he presided over the French section from the same year.
From 1970, Henri Cartan taught at the nouvelle université d’Orsay (Paris Sud) where he completed his career (1975). At the end of 1973, he resigned from the presidency of the AEDE/France and became involved in human rights, most notably in the liberation of his dissident colleagues. During the same period, he was elected President of the European Federalist Movement (MFE), the French branch of the new Union of European Federalists (UEF) (1973-1985). Convinced by the necessity to involve the citizens in the creation of Europe, he campaigned for the election of a European Parliament by universal suffrage. Having resigned from the Presidency of the MFE in 1985, he figured among the organisers of Rassemblement for a federal Europe (REF) in 1990.
Henri Cartan died in Paris in August 2008, he was 104 years of age.
The Henri Cartan Fonds at the HAEU