HAROLD BLACKHAM (1903-) was born near Birmingham. He studied literary theory and was a teacher for two years. Then he addressed himself to philosophy and adult education. In the early thirties, he became a leader in the British Ethical Union. Together with leaders of the main churches, he set up a 'moral education program' in Great Britain, of which he was justly proud. Blackham played a key role in founding IHEU and acted as its Secretary until 1967. In 1965, he represented IHEU in its contacts with the Vatican Secretariat for Non-Believers. At the 1974 Amsterdam Congress, he received the International Humanist Award for his long and creative service to Humanism in England and the world.

ERNST VAN BRAKEL was an IHEU staff member from 1965 until the mid-1990s. He was also IHEU's representative at UNESCO from 1967 to 1980. In 1997 and 1992, he outlined the history of IHEU in the magazine.

ROY BROWN (1937-) was born in London. With his wife Diana, he founded the World Population Foundation. In 1999 he became a member of the Committee for Growth and Development. He became a vice-president of IHEU in 2001 and president from 2003 to 2006. Since 2004 he has been the IHEU representative at the UN Human Rights Commission (now Council) in Geneva. He received the Danish Free Press Society's Free Press Prize in 2006 and the IHEU Distinguished Service to Humanism award in 2008.

KAREL CUYPERS (1907-1986) was born in Antwerp. He became an astronomer, but also published on educational and philosophical topics. His pedagogical view was that pupils should above all learn the method of thinking rather than accumulating facts. Initially a freemason and open-minded atheist, in 1951 he became one of the founders of the Belgian Humanist League. From 1955 to 1965 he was its president. He was a member of the IHEU Board of Directots from 1952 to 1975.

LEVI FRAGELL (1939-) is Norway's best-known Humanist. Originally, he was a preacher in a Pentecostal church. He has an MA in Christianity, History of religions and Sociology. From the 1970s, he became active in Human-Etisk Vorbund i Norge (Norwegian Humanist Association). He was its second leader from 1976 to 1991, except for one year when he worked as a teacher. In 1976, Fragell became a member of the IHEU Board of Directors (the predecessor to the present General Assembly). In 1987, he was elected Co-Chairman and from 1998 to 2003 he served as President of IHEU. In 1999, he received the World Humanist Award from the Council for Secular Humanism in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of Humanism around the world.

KRISTIAN HORN (1903-1981) and his wife Ester were from 1951 onwards the driving force behind the introduction of secular civil confirmation ceremonies in Norway. Horn was typical example of an IHEU 'filed representative' of the time who established, with IHEU support, a national Humanist organization. The organization he founded in 1956 was Human-Etisk Forbund (Norwegian Humanist Association) and he remained the main ideologist and leader until 1976. Horn was a member of the IHEU Board of Directors from 1957 until his death, when Levi Fragell took over.

NETTIE KLEIN (J W F Klein-von Baumhauer, 1927-) had her first contact with international Humanism at the 1962 Oslo Congress. In 1966, she became honorary (volunteer) organizing secretary of IHEU and from 1982 to 1996 she was general secretary. In the 1990s, she wrote "Nettie's Column" in International Humanist News. In 1996, at the Mexico City Congress, she received the International Humanist Award.

WIM KOPPENBURG (1904-1972), a chartered accountant, had been appreciated in the 1950s as Treasurer of the Dutch HV for his skilled handling of financial problems. In 1959, he became organizing secretary of IHEU and from 1966 until his death, he was deputy treasurer. After his death, in recognition of his capable financial management, the IHEU Endowment Fund was named after him.

PAUL KURTZ (1925-) was professor of philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo from 1965 to 1991. As a protagonist of secular Humanism, scepticism, rationalism and atheism, Kurtz is respected and feared by many in the United States as 'the pope of unbelievers'. He has founded several important Humanist institutions, among which are Prometheus Books, the world's largest Humanist publishing company, the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal and the magazines Free Enquiry and Skeptical Inquirer. From 1969, Kurtz was a member of the IHEU Board, at first representing the American Humanist Association and later Prometheus Books and the Council for Secular Humanism. From 1986 to 1994 he was Co-Chairman. At the Mumbai World Congress in 1999, Kurtz received the International Humanist Award.

MIHAILO MARKOVIC (1923-) as Director of the Institute of Philosophy at Belgrade University was one of the 'six of Belgrade', who in the late 1960s were fired by the Communist regime. The journal that he had founded, Praxis, was banned. Markovic participatred in the IHEU from 1971 and was elected Co-Chairman in 1975. In Markovic's view, Marxism was a kind of Humanism. When in the early 1990s he became an active member of the Yugoslavian Socialism and cooperated with Slobodan Milosevic, the Board froze its relations with him.

HENRY MORGENTHALER (1932-) was born in Poland. Being of Jewish descent, he was deported to Auschwitz and Dachau, which he survived. After medical studies in Brussels, he emigrated to Canada and settled as a general practitioner in Montreal. In 1968, he became the founding president of the Humanist Association of Canada, which immediately became a member of IHEU, with Morgenthaler representing it on the IHEU Board. Morgenthaler became well-known for his struggle for legalization of abortion in Canada, spending 10 months in prison: his letters from prison were published in the Canadian Humanist. 1n 1988, he received the Humanist of the Year Award at the Buffalo IHEU Congress for upholding his Humanist principles at great personal cost.

JAAP VAN PRAAG (1911-1981) was born in Amsterdam in a modern Jewish socialist environment. He studied Dutch language and history and became a teacher. In the pre-war period, he was active in various pacifist youth organizations, where he met people with whom he would later found the Dutch Humanist League. During the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940-1945), van Praag had to go into hiding. In this period, he developed his theory of Humanism. In February 1946, van Praag was one of the principal initiators of establishing the Dutch Humanist League, and became its Chairman from 1946 to 1969. From 1954 to 1974, he was a member of a provincial Executive. Van Praag was one of the first professors in Humanist studies (University of Leiden, 1964-1979). He stressed the importance of a non-religious Humanist life stance, which, as an alternative to the churches, could give meaning to life. Van Praag played a major role in founding IHEU. As its first Chairman, he was actively engaged in the work of consolidating and enlarging IHEU. He resigned as Chairman in 1975, but continued as an Honorary Board Member.

HOWARD RADEST (1928-), an American philosopher and former director of the American Ethical Union, he was elected secretary general of IHEU in 1970 and served as one of its Co-Chairmen from 1975 to 1985.

MANABENDRA NATH ROY (M N Roy, 1887-1954) arrived at Humanism by way of a long journey. Staring as a Comintern Marxist, he became active in the Indian movement for independence. His undogmatic Marxism gradually became less collectivistic and more individualistic, until in 1947 he proclaimed his own interpretation of 'new' or 'radical' Humanism in the form of a manifest with the famous '22 statements'. He then transformed his Radical Democratic Party into a social movement, the Indian Renaissance Movement. Roy was elected IHEU vice-chairman in 1952.

SIDNEY SCHEUER (1893-1987) had a career in the textile business and took part in several mission for the American government. He was active in the American Ethical Union and helped found IHEU. He was IHEU's Treasurer from 1952 to 1987. In 1966, Scheuer delivered an important address to the Paris World Congress, "An ethical humanist approach to peace and a practical suggestion for implementation." In 1978, Scheuer was elected Honorary Member of the IHEU Board. At the London Congress of the same year, Scheuer was presented with a Special Award for his services to IHEU.

VITAL MAHADEV TARKUNDE (1909-) was inspired by M N Roy's Humanism and played a crucial role in the Indian Humanist movement. Justice Tarkunde started his career by helping the so-called 'untouchables' in India. He was a judge of the Mumbai High Court, a senior advocate before the Supreme Court and co-founder of Citizens for Democracy and of the People's Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights. Tarkunde was an IHEU Board Member for over 40 years. At the 1978 London Congress, he received the International Humanist Award.

PIET THOENES (1921-1995) was a Dutch sociologist with a special interest in the welfare state and the caring society and their future development. He was actively involved with several scientific organizations within the Dutch Humanist movement. He was an IHEU Co-Chairman from 1975 to 1978.

ROB TIELMAN (1946-) played a prominent, pioneer role in the Dutch gay movement and in gay studies in the 1970s. From 1977 to 1987, he was president of the Dutch HV. He is a proponent of the Dutch model of Humanism as a modern social movement that pays much attention to the translation of Humanist principles into education and counselling, and the implementation of the principles into legislation. His involvement with IHEU began in 1972, when he joined the organizing committee of volunteers, with special responsibility for dialogues. Three years later, he became a Board member. From 1986 to 1996, he was a Co-Chairman and from 1996 to 1998 President of IHEU. Tielman has contributed significantly to establishing the European Humanist Professionals, the European Humanist Federation and the Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands. For many years, he was the face of IHEU and of international Humanism.

Source: Gasenbeek, Bert and Gogineni, Babu, eds. 2002. International Humanist and Ethical Union 1952-2002: Past present and future. De Tijdstroom, Leusden.