This is the initiative of three European citizens, an Austrian, a Frenchman and a Greek, who got together one evening and wrote a short letter to the British people. It’s not political and it’s not argumentative. We were not trying to sell a position or buy favours. It’s not a tract or a manifesto, and it’s certainly not a lecture. You can call it a love letter, if you will.
We shared our letter with people across Europe, people who have distinguished themselves in all sorts of different activities, Nobel Prize winners and international footballers, great writers and scientists, film directors and composers, architects and mathematicians. We were not surprised when they signed it too. We believe that the sheer variety and number of signatories demonstrates the point we set out to make in our letter: just how wide and deep is the affection felt for Britain across our shared continent.
Philippe Auclair, Apostolos Doxiadis, Robert Rotifer
The Letter
All of us in Europe respect the right of the British people to decide whether they wish to remain with us in the European Union. It is your decision, and we will all accept it. Nevertheless, if it will help the undecided to make up their minds, we would like to express how very much we value having the United Kingdom in the European Union. It is not just treaties that join us to your country, but bonds of admiration and affection. All of us hope that you will vote to renew them. Britain, please stay.
The Signatories
Arts, Media, Creative Industries
Michka ASSAYAS [FR], music critic and novelist
Olivier ASSAYAS [FR], screenwriter and film director (Cannes Festival Best Director Award)
Philippe AUCLAIR [FR], journalist, author, broadcaster and musician, author of Cantona – The Rebel Who Would Be King, (SJA 2012 Football Book of the Year award)
Pascal AUSSIGNAC [FR], chef-restaurateur, owner of Le Club Gascon (2013 Craft Guild of Chefs ‘Chef of the Year’)
Jean-Pierre BACRI [FR], actor, screenwriter (five-time César Award winner)
Sebastian BARRY [IRE], novelist, The Secret Scripture
Nathalie BAYE [FR], actor, The Man Who Loved Women, The Return Of Martin Guerre (four-time César winner)
Susanne BIER [DEN], film director, In a Better World (Academy Award winner)
Raymond BLANC [FR], chef, TV star of Saturday Kitchen, Food And Drink, Masterchef, The Restaurant
Alfred BRENDEL, KBE, [AUT], pianist, poet and author, (Gramophone Hall of Fame)
Maarten BUIJS [NDL], architect, designed Schiphol Airport and London’s Jubilee Gardens
Bertrand BURGALAT [FR], singer-songwriter
Andrea CAMILLERI [IT], novelist, creator of Inspector Montalbano
Mircea CARTARESCU [ROM], novelist (winner of the Writers Union Prize, Medicis Prize nominee)
Javier CERCAS [SP], novelist (2014 Prix de la Méditerranée)
Philippe CLAUDEL [FR], novelist, Grey Souls (Renaudot Prize) and director, I’ve Loved You So Long (BAFTA Best Foreign Film Award)
Christian CLAVIER [FR], actor and screenwriter, The Visitors (two-time César nominee)
Anton CORBIJN [NDL], photographer, video artist (Joy Division, Depeche Mode, U2) and film-maker, A Most Wanted Man
Jean-Pierre et Luc DARDENNE [BEL], film-makers, two-time winners of Cannes Palme d’Or (Rosetta, L’Enfant), seven-time Césars Nominees
Jorge De JUAN [SP], actor, Open Your Eyes (winner of the Franscisco Rabal film award)
Julie DELPY [FR], actress. An American Werewolf in Paris, Three Colours: White, 2 Days in Paris, and director (Hollywood Film Award for Screenwriter of the Year, two-time Academy Award and three-time César nominee)
Apostolos DOXIADIS [GR], novelist and graphic novelist, Uncle Petros and Golbach’s Conjecture, Logicomix (Premio Peano, Bertrand Russell Society Award)
Richard DUBUGNON [FR], composer, (2015 Grand Prix de la SACEM, France’s most prestigious music award)
Charles DUMONT [FR], song-writer, creator of some of Edith Piaf’s most famous songs
Ken EARLY [IRE], columnist and broadcaster
Elena FERRANTE (pseudonym) [IT], novelist
Peter FUDAKOWSKI [POL], Academy Award-winning producer (Totsi)
Chiara GAMBERALE [IT], novelist, author of La Zona cieca (Premio Campiello)
Nicole GARCIA [FR], actress, My American Uncle, Death in a French Garden, Alias Betty, screenwriter and director (Montreal World Film Festival, Silver Hugo Awards for Best Actress, three-time Cannes Palme d’Or nominee.)
Costa GAVRAS [GR], film director, Z, Missing, The Music Box (two-time Academy Award winner and Palme d’Or)
Julie GAVRAS [FR], film director, Blame It On Fidel, Late Bloomers
Jan GEHL [DEN], architect (Sir Patrick Abercrombie Prize)
Paolo GIORDANO [IT], novelist, The Solitude of Prime Numbers (Strega Prize)
Marleen GORRIS [NDL], first woman director to win an Oscar for Antonia’s Line
Sofia HELIN [SWE], actress, Saga Norén in The Bridge
André HELLER [AUT], artist, actor, writer and singer-songwriter
Paulus HOCHGATTERER [AUT], novelist (EU Prize for Literature)
Agnieszka HOLLAND [POL], screenwriter and director of film, Europa, Europa and TV, The Wire, The Killing and House of Cards (two-time Academy Award nominee, Cannes Festival International Critics Prize)
Elfriede JELINEK [AUT], novelist, (Nobel Prize for Literature)
Dieter KOSSLICK [GER], director of the Berlin International Film Festival
Christophe LAMBERT [FR], actor, Subway, Highlander, Greystoke (César award winner)
Yorgos LANTHIMOS [GR], film director, Dogtooth and The Lobster (two-time winner Cannes Festival’s Grand Jury Prize)
Michel LECLERC [FR], screenwriter and director, The Names of Others, (César award)
Aurélien LECOING [FR], actor, Blue Is The warmest Colour (Magritte Prize)
Pierre LEMAÎTRE [FR], novelist (Goncourt Prize)
Didier LOCKWOOD [FR], jazz violinist, former member of Magma (French Emmy winner)
Yorgos LOUKOS [GR], artistic director, Opéra de Lyon
Geert MAK [NDL], historian, essayist, In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century
Javier MARÍAS [SP], novelist (National Book Critics Circle Award)
Karl MARKOVICS [AUT], actor, The Counterfeiters
Anna MOUGLALIS [FR], actor, Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky
Nana MOUSKOURI [GR], singer
Hertha MÜLLER [GER], writer (2009 Nobel Prize for Literature)
Joseph O’NEILL [IRE], novelist, Netherland (PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction)
Krzysztof PENDERECKI [POL], composer, Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, St. Luke Passion (three-time Grammy winner)
Patricia PETIBON [FR], opera singer (three-time winner of the Victoires de la Musique)
Renzo PIANO [IT], architect, designer of the Shard
Annalisa PIRAS [IT], documentary-maker, 2015 Civis Media Prize
Clémence POÉSY [FR], actor, Harry Potter, In Bruges, War & Peace, The Tunnel
Adam PRICE [DK], TV chef, screenwriter, creator of Borgen
Patrick PULSINGER [AUT], techno musician, co-founder of Cheap Records
Wolfgang PUSCHNIG [AUT], jazz saxophonist, Vienna Art Orchestra
Doron RABINOVICI [AUT], essayist, novelist and historian
Julya RABINOWICH [AUT], novelist, columnist, playwright and painter
Eric REINHARDT [FR], novelist and playwright, Prix Goncourt des Jeunes
Edgar REITZ [GER], film director (“Heimat”)
Katja RIEMANN [GER], actor (“Suck me Shakespeer/Fack ju Göthe”)
Hans-Joachim ROEDELIUS [GER], musician, founder of Cluster and Harmonia
Isabella ROSSELLINI [IT], actor (Blue Velvet, Crime of the Century, Joy)
Michael ROTHER [GER], musician, founder of Neu! and former member of Kraftwerk
Robert ROTIFER [AUT], journalist, broadcaster, singer-songwriter, artist, curator
Stefan RUZOWITZKY [AUT], director (The Counterfeiters, Best Foreign Language Film at 2007 Oscars)
Axel SCHEFFLER [GER], graphic artist, animator and illustrator (The Gruffalo)
Lone SCHERFIG [DEN], director (Italian for Beginners, An Education, The Riot Club), 3 Oscar nominations, won Silver Bear at 2001 Berlin Film Festival
Robert SCHINDEL [AUT], poet, director and author
Volker SCHLÖNDORF [GER], Academy Award and Palme d’Or winning film-maker (The Tin Drum)
Vanessa SEWARD [FR], fashion designer (Yves Saint-Laurent, Azzaro, A.P.C.)
Stellan SKARSGÅRD [SWE], actor (Pirates of the Caribbean, Good Will Hunting, The River, Our Kind of Traitor), Best Actor at 1982 Berlin Film Festival (The Simple-minded Murderer)
Pierre SPENGLER [FR], film producer (Superman I, II and III)
Marius STAN [ROM], senior physicist at the Argonne Laboratory and actor (Breaking Bad)
Patrick SÜSKIND [GER], novelist, author (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer)
Małgorzata SZUMOWSKA [POL], film director, 2013 Berlin Film Festival Teddy Award (In The Name Of)
Wolfgang TILLMANS RA [GER], photographer, 2000 Turner Prize, 2015 Hasselblad Award winner, Centenary Medal and Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society
Colm TOÍBÍN [IRE], essayist, novelist, critic, playwright, 3 times Booker Prize shortlisted, 2011 Irish PEN award
Jean-Philippe TOUSSAINT [BEL], novelist, 2005 Prix Médicis (Fuir)
Björn ULVAEUS [SWE], singer, songwriter, producer, founder of ABBA
Alex van WARMERDAM [NDL], painter, actor, film director, 2013 Cannes Palme d’Or nominee (Borgman)
Mario VARGAS LLOSA [SP], writer, 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature
Paul VERHOEVEN [NDL], director (Robocop, Basic Instinct, Total Recall, Starship Troopers The Black Book, ELLE) nine-time Academy Award nominee
Sandro VERONESI, essayist and novelist (Caos Calmo), 2005 Strega Prize [IT]
Margarethe Von TROTTA [GER], film-maker, Golden Lion award at 1981 Venice film festival, 2004 Golden Globe award, two-time Cannes Festival Palme d’Or nominee
Andrzej WAJDA [POL], director, Palme d’Or in Cannes (Man of Iron, 1981), Honorary Oscar (2000), Honorary Golden Bear (2006)
Jonathan ZACCAÏ [BEL], actor (The Beat That My Heart Skipped), 2011 Magritte Prize
Krysztof ZANUSSI [POL], director, Cannes Jury Prize (The Constant Factor, 1980)
Sports
Clemens AUERSPERG [AUT], rower, 2016 winner of Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race as part of Cambridge crew
Serge BETSEN [FR], rugby union international, ex-Wasps, twice winner of Six Nations Grand Slam, former captain of France’s national team (63 caps)
Tommy BOWE [IRE], rugby union international, 64 caps for Ireland, 2010 RBS 6 Nations Player of the Year, twice selected for British Lions
Rafael HONIGSTEIN [GER], football journalist, author and broadcaster
Gérard HOULLIER, OBE [FR], football manager, 8 major trophies with PSG, Lyon and Liverpool FC
Jean-Michel LARQUÉ [FR], footballer, 7-time French champion, European Cup finalist, French international and captain of Saint-Étienne
Franck LEBOEUF [FR], footballer, European and world champion, twice FA Cup winner, UEFA Cup Winners Cup winner with Chelsea FC
Per MERTESACKER [GER], Arsenal FC vice-captain, 2014 World Champion
Morten OLSEN [DEN], UEFA Cup winning footballer, former captain and manager of Danish national team (102 caps)
Karl-Heinz RIEDLE [GER], footballer, ex-Liverpool FC, 1997 UEFA Champions League winner, 1990 World Champion
Jérôme ROTHEN [FR], footballer, twice winner of the French Cup, winner of the Confederations Cup, French international
Veselin TOPALOV [BUL], chess grandmaster and former world champion
Maxime VACHIER-LAGRAVE [FR], chess grandmaster, former junior world champion
Tim VISSER [NDL], winger for Harlequins rugby union club, first professional Dutch player ever, played for Scotland (26 caps)
Arsène WENGER, OBE [FR], football manager, 11 major trophies with AS Monaco and Arsenal FC, 3-time Premier League ‘Manager of the Year’
Science & Humanities
Dario ALESSI [IT], FRS, biochemist
Prof. Alain ASPECT [FR], Foreign Member of the Royal Society, Académie des Sciences, physicist
Clara AUVRAY [FR], classicist
Philipp BLOM [GER], essayist and historian
Hans CLEVERS [NDL], geneticist, Scientific Director of the Princess Maxima Centre for Pediatric Oncology
Avelino CORMA CANÓS [SP], Foreign Member of the Royal Society, chemist
Stanislas DEHAENE [FR], Académie des Sciences, neuroscientist
Ray DOLAN [IRE], FRS, neurologist
Angela FRIEDERICI [GER], German Academy of Sciences, Director Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, neuropsychologist
Uta FRITH [GER], DBE, FRS, FBA, psychologist
Michel GOEDERT [LUX], FRS, neuroscientist
Louise GUNNING-SCHEPERS [NDL], President of the Royal Holland Society of Science
Jean-Pierre HANSEN [LUX], FRS, chemist
Riitta HARI [FIN], Finnish Academy of Sciences, neuroscientist
Hermann HAUSER [AUT], KBE, FRS, physicist
Michael HÄUSSER [GER], FRS, biologist
Barbara HOHN [AUT], Foreign Member of the Royal Society
Jan LÖWE [NDL], FRS, molecular biologist
Gero MIESENBÖCK [AUT], FRS, physiologist
Alexander RINNOOY KAN [NDL], mathematical economist
Giacomo RIZZOLATTI [IT], Accademia dei Lincei, physiologist
Andreas ROEPSTORFF [DEN], Royal Danish Academy, anthropologist
Philippe J. SANSONETTI [FR], Foreign Member of the Royal Society, microbiologist
Wolfram SCHULTZ [GER], FRS, neuroscientist
Wolf SINGER [GER], German Academy of Sciences, neuroscientist
Maria Grazia SPILLANTINI [IT], FRS, molecular biologist
Thomas C. SÜDHOF [GER], 2013 Nobel Prize for Medicine
Gerard ’T HOOFT [NDL], 1999 Nobel Prize for Physics
Vladimir TISMĂNEANU [ROM], sociologist and historian
Frank UHLMANN [GER], FRS, biochemist
Cédric VILLANI [FR], 2010 Fields Medal, mathematician
Wendelin WERNER [FR/GER], 2006 Fields Medal, mathematician
