German-French political scientist Grosser dies | tagesschau.de

He was one of the most influential personalities in German-French relations in the post-war period. The political scientist and historian Alfred Grosser has now died at the age of 99.

The German-French political scientist and journalist Alfred Grosser is dead. This was announced by his family. Accordingly, Grosser died in Paris at the age of 99.

The scientist, who comes from a Jewish family, is one of the defining personalities of German-French relations and was one of the intellectual pioneers of the friendship treaty known as the Élysée Treaty. Born in Frankfurt am Main, he emigrated to France with his family as a child in 1933. Grosser later converted to Catholicism.

Grosser studied political science and German in Paris. From 1955 he taught at the renowned Institut d’études politiques de Paris and wrote political columns for many newspapers. He was also the author of numerous monographs.

He received many awards for his role as a mediator, including the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Grand Cross of Merit with Star and Shoulder Ribbon, and the French Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.

“More demanding Pioneer”

“All actors in the German-French friendship feel orphaned today,” wrote François Delattre, the French ambassador in Berlin. Grosser was a “demanding pioneer” in relations between the two countries.

“We are losing one of the greats. From Frankfurt to Paris, no one has shaped our view of Franco-German reconciliation as much as he has,” wrote Cornelia Woll, President of the Hertie School in Berlin, in the online service X.