Paul Rijkens

Nationality

Netherlands

Date of Birth

1888

Date of Death

1965

Political
Preference

Paul Rijkens was a Dutch businessman. He was the founder of Unilever in 1929.

During World War II, Rijkens created the Studiegroep voor Reconstructieproblemen, which was made up of Dutch businessmen in London. It was set-up as a support-group to advise the Dutch government about post-war problems of economic, social and political reconstruction. A prominent member of the group was Johan Willem Beyen.

In 1941, Rijkens also set-up the Dutch weekly Vrij Nederland, which was circulated in Dutch communities in London.

After the war, Rijkens participated in the Congress of Europe in The Hague in 1948. Moreover, together with Joseph Retinger, whom Rijkens had met in London during the war, he was also one of the initiators of the Bilderberg meetings, an annual conference established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. As such, Rijkens was convinced that European integration should be based on a firm transatlantic cooperation.