4 Février 2008
AIESEC CREDENTIALS AND HISTORY by Jean CHOPLIN, one of the founders of AIESEC
1949 As a student for MBA at the PARIS Graduate Business school (Ecole supérieure de commerce de PARIS) I am elected Secretary general of the National Union of graduate Schools Students, and in charge of international relations. 25 Years later the President became Minister of Education! I receive an invitation from the international union of student headquarters in PRAGUE (Tchekoslovakia state at the time) as official guest. Mr GROMANN international President was much later assassinated by KGB probably. That immediate after war period was still hard living including for our student association (still ration tickets for many daily use product). In PRAGUE, I discover luxury, I am treated as a state guest and under strong pressure to become an official partner of the international union of students. I declined the offer. Astonished and back in PARIS, I report to my mother who was in a position to ask General’s DE GAULLE cabinet for information about the PRAGUE organization. The answer comes from the minister of education three days later „It is KGB inspired, to organize western youth according to USSR propaganda!“ Therefore I dismissed the relationship with PRAGUE. In France, at the time the most important issue was French German reconciliation, the original key for United Europe concept. (as an example, my grand father lived through three wars with Germany during his own life). Many think tanks were alive about the absolute must of a new international understanding, promoted by the new generation (easier for that generation with no direct deep war scars) and particularly graduate schools or university students. Through many night working sessions the concept of an International Student Association promoting international understanding was born. The title in French is not pure hazard!! One the concept defined, a project was essential to clarify it and translate it into action, with a specific product answering a need and promoting the ideology of international understanding, essential factor for peace. The project chosen was a constituent international meeting of national business graduate school student associations. We had absolutely no financial means. We had from Paris the idea to call the Swedish association in Stockholm business school. The reason for that choice was threefold:
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My hometown is a suburb of Paris where a French man Count Bernadotte married a French girl before he later became King of Sweden. His name rings a bell for Swedes. Sweden was neutral during world war two After victory other countries in Europe did not welcome relations with Sweden and that was a problem for Sweden. Sweden has a tradition of wealthy and powerful student association.
So we called the Stockholm graduate business school and suggested that as a gesture of good will they would organize a first congress and cover all expenses. The answer was positive in a week time, so the idea was accepted of an congress in Stockholm in 1950. The President of that congress is my friend Bengt Sjostrand, we never lost track of each other during those 57 years, our last meeting was a lunch in PARIS this year. One of your very emotional moments in life was when we opened the 50th anniversary International Congress in Stockholm ten years ago. At that congress I think few countries were represented. France was elected Presiding country and the following year the congress was held partly at the Paris chamber of commerce, partly at the National Union of French Employers Headquarters. At that congress Germany was represented by DR Kaltenthaler who has been prisoner of war in Paris suburbs. We never lost track of each other and in Hannover four years ago we entered the plenary room officially together. Albert had a great career in western Germany. Absolutely convinced that a follow up should be organized after our student years, I suggested a special motion, from the chair in 1951 for the setting up of a senior branch of alumni accepted unanimously. We invented the traineeships in foreign countries, bases on an exchange system. That by itself was a big innovation and the problems to be solved were big and numerous, such as labour permits, travelling visas, minimum job payment, temporary housing etc, and to convince business firms. Different Ministries observing a possible success tried to pass laws so that they would steal the show and my mother’s power was necessary to maintain simple honesty about intellectual ownership for the student body we presided over. Hence the permanent alert I maintained for years to protect AIESEC independence from all powers.
Jean CHOPLIN * all statements in this document represent the opinion of the author and political references are linked to AIESEC as a non-political organisation