Luuk van Middelaar
Luuk Johannes van Middelaar (born 9 May 1973 in Eindhoven) is a Dutch historian and political philosopher. From December 2009 to 2014 he was a member of the cabinet of Herman Van Rompuy, the first full-time President of the European Council. Van Middelaar is best known for his book The Passage to Europe (originally published in 2009 and widely translated). Van Middelaar studied history and philosophy at the University of Groningen and the Centre Raymond Aron of the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociale in Paris. In 1999 his master's thesis (doctoraalscriptie in Dutch) was published as Politicide and awarded the Prix de Paris and the Prize for Liberty (Nova Civitas). He became for a time an adviser and speechwriter to Frits Bolkestein (2002-2004) and Jozias van Aartsen (2004-2006). In 2009 he received his PhD from the University of Amsterdam with a cum laude distinction. In 2012 he was awarded the European Book Prize and the Prix Louis Martin for The Passage to Europe and Socrates Prize in 2010 for the best philosophy book written in Dutch. Since early 2015 he has had a weekly political column in NRC Handelsblad, taking up again a position he held from 2008