Remembering Robert Schuman (1886-1963)

Robert Schuman who died on Monday (4 September) 60 years ago, was the rarest of creatures. A subtle subversive. An individual who changed the course of history without much personal power. A revolutionary without weapons — indeed, Schuman's revolution silenced the weapons of Europe's fraternal wars for good.

So subtle in fact was Schuman's revolution, that it first went unnoticed.

When he made the statement that launched ...