Gaston Egmond Thorn (3 September 1928 – 26 August 2007) was a Luxembourg politician who served in a number of high-profile positions, both domestically and internationally. Amongst the posts that he held were the 20th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (1974–79), President of the United Nations General Assembly (1975), and the seventh President of the European Commission (1981–85).

Thorn was born in Luxembourg City. While still at school he engaged in resistance activities during the German occupation, and spent several months in prison. After the war he studied law in Montpellier, Lausanne and Paris, and practised law in Luxembourg before entering politics in 1959, representing the liberal Democratic Party. He was Chairman of the Democratic Party from 1961.

Thorn was Foreign Minister and Foreign Trade Minister of Luxembourg from 1969 – 1980, Prime Minister from 1974 – 1979 and Minister of Economics from 1977 to 1980. He was also a member of the European Parliament from 1959 – 1969, and President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1975 – 1976.

Thorn (second from the left) at the 1983 G7 summit

In 1980 Thorn was chosen as President of the Commission of the European Communities (now called the European Union), in succession to Roy Jenkins. He took office on 12 January 1981. He was seen as very close to the President of France, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, and generally as a defender of French interests in European politics.

Although Thorn was not considered a very forceful Commission President, during his term of office the Commission continued to expand its power, both at the expense of the national governments of EC members, and of the European Parliament, with which the Commission engaged in a constant power struggle. In this Thorn laid the groundwork for his successor Jacques Delors, who took the Commission to the height of its power.

After leaving the Commission Presidency in 1985, Thorn went into business. He was chairman of Luxembourg's largest media company CLT and president of the Banque Internationale de Luxembourg.

Thorn remained active in international and political affairs, as President of the International European Movement and as a member of the Trilateral Commission and of the Jean Monnet Committee. He was also president of the Liberal International, a grouping of liberal political parties, and is now this organisation's President of Honour. He was married to Liliane Thorn-Petit, a journalist.

References[link]

• Obituary, The Guardian, 28 August 2007
• Obituary, The Daily Telegraph, 28 August 2007
• Obituary, The Times, 28 August 2007

v t e Prime Ministers of Luxembourg Gaspard-Théodore-Ignace de la Fontaine • Jean-Jacques Willmar • Charles-Mathias Simons • Baron de Tornaco • Emmanuel Servais • Baron de Blochausen • Édouard Thilges • Paul Eyschen • Mathias Mongenast • Hubert Loutsch • Victor Thorn • Léon Kauffman • Émile Reuter • Pierre Prüm • Joseph Bech • Pierre Dupong • Joseph Bech • Pierre Frieden • Pierre Werner • Gaston Thorn • Pierre Werner • Jacques Santer • Jean-Claude Juncker

v t e Presidents of the European Council President-in-Office (1975–2009) Liam Cosgrave · Aldo Moro · Gaston Thorn · Joop den Uyl · James Callaghan · Leo Tindemans · Anker Jørgensen · Helmut Schmidt · Valéry Giscard d'Estaing · Jack Lynch · Francesco Cossiga · Charles Haughey · Pierre Werner · Dries van Agt · Margaret Thatcher · Wilfried Martens · Anker Jørgensen · Poul Schlüter · Helmut Kohl · Andreas Papandreou · François Mitterrand · Garret FitzGerald · Bettino Craxi · Jacques Santer · Ruud Lubbers · Margaret Thatcher · Wilfried Martens · Poul Schlüter · Helmut Kohl · Andreas Papandreou · Felipe González · François Mitterrand · Charles Haughey · Giulio Andreotti · Jacques Santer · Ruud Lubbers · Poul Schlüter · Aníbal Cavaco Silva · John Major · Poul Nyrup Rasmussen · Jean-Luc Dehaene · Andreas Papandreou · Helmut Kohl · Jacques Chirac · Felipe González · Lamberto Dini · Romano Prodi · John Bruton · Wim Kok · Jean-Claude Juncker · Tony Blair · Viktor Klima · Gerhard Schröder · Paavo Lipponen · António Guterres · Jacques Chirac · Göran Persson · Guy Verhofstadt · José María Aznar López · Anders Fogh Rasmussen · Costas Simitis · Silvio Berlusconi · Bertie Ahern · Jan Peter Balkenende · Jean-Claude Juncker · Tony Blair · Wolfgang Schüssel · Matti Vanhanen · Angela Merkel · José Sócrates · Janez Janša · Nicolas Sarkozy · Mirek Topolánek · Jan Fischer · Fredrik Reinfeldt Permanent President (since 2009) Herman Van Rompuy

v t e European Commission Presidents and their Commissions ECSC: Jean Monnet (1952) • René Mayer (1955) • Paul Finet (1958) • Piero Malvestiti (1959) • Rinaldo Del Bo (1963) • Albert Coppé (1963) EAEC: Louis Armand (1958) • Étienne Hirsch (1959) • Pierre Chatenet (1962) EEC: Walter Hallstein (1958)2 EC: Jean Rey (1967) • Franco Maria Malfatti (1970) • Sicco Mansholt (1972) • François-Xavier Ortoli (1973) • Roy Jenkins (1977) • Gaston Thorn (1981) • Jacques Delors (1985)2 EU: Jacques Delors (1993) • Jacques Santer (1995) • Manuel Marín (1999) • Romano Prodi (1999) • José Manuel Barroso (2004)2 Commission President  · President of the European Council  · Council Presidency  · President of Parliament

Paul Helminger
Mayor of Luxembourg City
In office 1999–2011
Preceded by	Lydie Polfer
Succeeded by	Xavier Bettel
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
Incumbent
Assumed office 1984-1989 1999-present
Personal details
Born	(1940-10-28) 28 October 1940 (age 71) Esch-sur-Alzette
Nationality	Luxembourgish
Political party	Democratic Party (DP)
Religion	Roman Catholicism[1]

Paul Helminger (born 28 October 1940 in Esch-sur-Alzette) is a Luxembourg politician who was Mayor of Luxembourg City from 1999 to November 2011. He is a member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Democratic Party (since 1994, and previously from 1984 until 1989).

Biography[link]

Born in Esch-sur-Alzette in 1940, Paul Helminger moved with his family to Belair, a quarter in western Luxembourg City, when he was one year old. After he attained his baccalaureate in the Athénée de Luxembourg in 1959, Helminger went on to study law at the Sorbonne in Paris until 1963. At the same time, he also studied at the Institut d'Études Politiques and attained a degree in international relations in 1963. In 1964, he finished his doctorate in jurisprudence, before moving to the United States to finish his studies in political science at Stanford University.

Helminger started to work in diplomacy for the state of Luxembourg in 1966 and represented the country in London, Helsinki and Geneva, until 1974, when Prime Minister Gaston Thorn made him his Chief of Cabinet.

In the Werner-Thorn Ministry, he was from 1979 to 1984 Secretary of State for external relations, development aid and economy.

He was deputy from 1984 to 1989, and again since 1994.

Since 1987, Helminger has also been member of the city council of Luxembourg City. He became alderman in 1991 and mayor in 1999. On 21 November 2011, he presided over the city council for the last time, retiring in favour of Xavier Bettel. Helminger received a standing ovation for his excellent work as mayor of the city.^[2]

Private life[link]

Paul Helminger is married and has seven children. He was president of the Luxembourg Tennis Federation from 1994 to 2003.

External links[link]

• Biography on dp.lu for the 2009 election campaign (German)
• Curriculum Vitae on the homepage of Luxembourg city (French)

References[link]

1. ^ profile on smartvote.lu for the election 2009
2. ^ "Luxembourg: Helminger fait ses adieux", Le Quotidien, 22 November 2011. (French) Retrieved 22 November 2011.

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Robert Krieps, 1990

Robert Krieps (15 October 1922 – 1 August 1990) was a Luxembourgian politician. He served as the President of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party from 1980 until 1985, as well as serving in the Luxembourgian cabinet under both Gaston Thorn and Jacques Santer.

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Tracey Thorn
Background information
Birth name	Tracey Anne Thorn
Born	(1962-09-26) 26 September 1962 (age 49), Brookmans Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Pop Folk Electronic House
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocalist
Years active	1982–present
Labels	Cherry Red Records 1980–1983 Blanco Y Negro 1983-1994 Virgin Records 1995-2007 Strange Feeling 2010- Merge Records 2010-
Associated acts	Everything but the Girl Marine Girls
Website	traceythorn.com

Tracey Anne Thorn (born 26 September 1962) is an English pop singer and songwriter. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl, who are currently on extended hiatus.

Personal life[link]

Thorn was born in Brookmans Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. She grew up in Hatfield and studied English at the University of Hull, where she graduated in 1984 with First Class Honours. She later took an MA degree at Birkbeck College, University of London.

After 28 years as a couple, Thorn and her partner Ben Watt married in 2009 at Chelsea Registry Office.^[1] They live in Hampstead, North London.^[2] The couple have twin daughters born in 1998 and a son born in 2001.

Thorn will release her autobiography in early 2013.^[3]

Career[link]

Stern Bops (1979–1980)[link]

Thorn began her musical career in the punk-pop hybrid group Stern Bops playing guitar and providing some vocal backing.

Marine Girls (1980–1983)[link]

Thorn then joined Marine Girls playing guitar and sharing vocals. The band released two albums (Beach Party in 1981 and Lazy Ways in 1982) and several singles. The group disbanded when Thorn decided to concentrate on her studies at Hull, and on Everything but the Girl.

Everything But the Girl (1982–2000)[link]

Thorn met Ben Watt at the University of Hull where they were both students, and both signed as solo artists to Cherry Red Records. Their first album together was Eden, released in 1984. Everything But The Girl released a body of work that spanned two decades. Their biggest chart success came in 1995, when DJ Todd Terry remixed a song from their Amplified Heart album. "Missing" became a huge hit all over the world, especially in the U.S., where it reached number two in the Billboard Hot 100.

Everything But The Girl have been on extended hiatus since 2000, while Ben Watt has concentrated on his DJ work, and Thorn has been a full-time parent and, most recently, writing and recording her solo material.

They released compilation albums in 2002 and 2005, and Watt has played on some filmed performances of Thorn's solo work and on her 2011 recording of the xx's Night Time.^[4]

Solo career and collaborations[link]

Thorn's first solo work was a mini-album entitled A Distant Shore (1982). A re-recorded version of the track "Plain Sailing" was released as a single, and was included on the Pillows & Prayers Cherry Red records compilation album.

In the 1980s, Thorn contributed guest vocals and backing vocals for The Style Council on the track "Paris Match" (from the album Café Bleu), The Go-Betweens on their track Head Full of Steam, Working Week on the single "Venceremos (We Will Win)", Lloyd Cole and the Commotions on the track "Big Snake", and Adam F on "The Tree Knows Everything", from Colours.

In the 1990s, she collaborated with Massive Attack on several projects, including the soundtrack for the motion picture Batman Forever where she contributed with "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game". Their first project together was the song "Protection" from the album by Massive Attack of the same name. She also sings on the track "Better Things".

Just prior to her return to recording in 2007, Thorn contributed vocals to the song "Damage" by the band Tiefschwarz on the album Eat Books.

In March 2007, Tracey Thorn released her second solo album Out of the Woods on Virgin Records (Worldwide) and on Astralwerks (USA). Thorn cited her peers Terry Hall and Siouxsie Sioux in the song "Hands Up To The Ceiling". The record includes contributions from Cagedbaby, Ewan Pearson, Charles Webster, Sasse, Darshan Jesrani, Martin Wheeler and Alex Santos. Thorn's MySpace page includes several mixes of the single and the music video.

The first single from the album, "It's All True", accompanied by remixes from the likes of Kris Menace & Martin Buttrich, was released on 7 February and the second single, "Raise the Roof" was released on 18 June. The third single, "Grand Canyon" was released on 30 October. A fourth single, "King's Cross" (which is a cover version of a Pet Shop Boys song) was released on 12 December.

In 2008, Thorn collaborated with the Hungarian acoustic downtempo group The Unbending Trees on their single "Overture", which also featured on their album Chemically Happy (Is The New Sad), published by her partner and husband Ben Watt.

In 2009, Thorn collaborated with the Swedish singer-songwriter Jens Lekman for a cover of The Magnetic Fields' "Yeah! Oh Yeah!" for a compilation album commemorating twenty years of Merge Records, Score! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers!.

Thorn's third solo album Love and Its Opposite was released in May 2010 on Ben Watt's Strange Feeling Records in the UK, and on Merge Records in the US. Recorded in London and Berlin and produced by Ewan Pearson, it contains eight new songs and two cover versions, "Come On Home To Me" by Lee Hazlewood, and "You Are A Lover" by The Unbending Trees.

Thorn is currently recording a Christmas album as of February 2012. The album is expected later in the same year.

Discography[link]

See also Marine Girls discography

See also Everything but the Girl discography

Studio albums[link]

EPs[link]

• 2010 – Opposites EP (contains experimental remixes of tracks from Love and Its Opposite)
• 2011 – You Are A Lover EP (10" green vinyl released for Record Store Day)
• 2011 - Night Time EP
• 2011 - Extended Plays 2010-2011

Singles[link]

Collaborations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Tracey Thorn website