Daniel Dommel (1921-2018) was born in Alsace, a region in the North East of France which has been disputed between France and Germany over several generations. His father was born German
Daniel Dommel studied law and political science in Paris, and then did the « concours de l’Inspection des Finances » (which was just before the creation of the national school of administration – ENA)
As a young finance inspector, he worked in France, and also had some short missions abroad, among which South East Asia. He also went to Washington where he had accepted a job at the World Bank without speaking one word of English! He started to learn that language during the ten days of the boat trip across the Atlantic Ocean!
He went back to Washington some years later, once married and with two children; for one and a half year, and worked for the International Monetary Fund. After Washington he was appointed for five years and a half in Lebanon as a finance attaché of the French Embassy, covering several countries in the Middle East and Eastern Africa.
Later he was appointed to Algeria, just after its independence, as an economic and finance adviser for the French Embassy. By that time he had five children. He stayed in Algeria during six years, before coming back to France where he had various responsibilities in different ministries and other missions among which in New Caledonia and Polynesia.
His passion for his work lasted during and after his professional life. He had many commitments:
MRA – IofC He was very active with Moral Re-Armament - MRA (now Initiatives of Change –IofC), which he had met as a young man, and which gave him a commitment that was to influence his whole life, personal and professional. He was one of the twelve signatories of the French association’s constituent assembly in 1952. In its early years, he was its treasurer. Several years later he became its president during ten years.
In 1954, Daniel Dommel met Son Sann, from Cambodia. It was in Paris, during the conference that was due to end the Indochinese quadripartism after the independence of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. Son Sann was in charge of the monetary questions concerning his country. Daniel Dommel introduced him to IofC, through which he made many friends. Years later, Son Sann made a vibrant appeal in the international IofC centre of Caux, Switzerland, for helping Cambodia which was getting out of a horrific genocide. Iofc helped facilitate the dialogue between Cambodian political actors. Son Sann by then had become Prime Minister of an exiled coalition government. A meeting gathered in the French IofC centre of Boulogne representatives of the three main Cambodians opposition political parties, among them the Red Khmers.
He was a municipal councellor of his town of Sceaux during six years
He was president of an old peoples’home during some years where he improved the living conditions
One important cause for him was fighting against corruption. He supported the creation of the French chapter of the organisation Transparency international, to which he dedicated a considerable energy. He wrote a book on this theme: Face à la corruption in 2003
He wrote two other books and one booklet (he loved searching, understanding and describing the actions of individuals who seek how to transform situations which are beyond themselves):
- La crise calédonienne, rémission ou guérison? In 1993 He describes in it the whole process of negotiations which led to the Matignon agreements in 1988.
- Cyprus 1959-1960, an unfinished story in 1998 (first into French in 1995) He shows how some men and women, inspired by IofC, attempted to find a solution to the tensions between Greek and Turkish Chypriots. This led to the independence of Cyprus.
- Acteurs de changement en Amérique latine in 2002 .In that- book he put together actions of IofC in Latin America from the middle of the 20th century.
Written by: Florence Nosley (Daniel´s daughter)
