Étienne Davignon, Belgian diplomat and civil servant who served as European commissioner from 1977 to 1985, died on May 18, 2026, at age 93.
Born in Budapest on October 4, 1932, he received a doctorate in law from the Catholic University of Louvain before joining the Belgian Foreign Ministry in 1959. Within two years, he had become an attaché under Paul-Henri Spaak, then Belgium’s foreign minister, and remained in government until 1965.
In 1970, he chaired the committee of experts that produced the Davignon report on foreign policy for Europe. In March 2026, a Belgian court ruled that Davignon could stand trial over his alleged role in events leading to the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba; he denied the allegations.
Étienne Davignon, 93, Belgian diplomat and civil servant, European commissioner (1977–1985). (death announced on this date)