Peter Eigen

The third of four children, Peter Eigen was born on 11 June 1938 in Augsburg, Germany, to Grete Eigen (born Müchler) and Fritz Eigen, an engineer by training and industry manager. Eigen spent his early childhood during the war in Berlin and in Czechoslovakia, where his father had been assigned by the Nazi regime to manage a large factory. The family moved back to Germany after the war and settled in Mettmann with his grandparents, and as of 1952 in Erlangen. He studied law in Erlangen and Frankfurt, and earned a Doctor of Laws in 1964 (Dr. iur.) at the Goethe Universität Frankfurt after studying from 1962–1963 at the University of Kansas in the United States as a scholar of the Fulbright Program. His time on the American continent included a four-month road trip through Latin America, an experience that informed his early interest in global governance.{{Cite book|last=Eigen|first=Peter|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53057796|title=Das Netz der Korruption : wie eine weltweite Bewegung gegen Bestechung kämpft|date=2003|publisher=Campus|isbn=3-593-37188-X|location=Frankfurt am Main|oclc=53057796}}

Eigen left the World Bank to pursue his anti-corruption efforts from Berlin.

This process led to the concept of Transparency International (TI). In February 1993, Eigen gathered approximately 20 individuals and experts in The Hague, Netherlands, where they signed the Founding Charter of Transparency International in the office of the Dutch Development Minister Jan Pronk. The organization was established as a charitable society based in Berlin. In May of the same year, Eigen secured funding from the GTZ and the German Development Foundation (Deutsche Stiftung für Internationale Entwicklung (DSE)) to publicly launch TI at the Villa Borsig, the official Guest House of the German Government in Berlin-Tegel. Leaders from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the German development community participated in the launch.{{Cite web|date=6 May 1993|title=Corruption: Major cause of poverty|url=https://www.transparency.org/files/content/publication/TI_founding_statement.pdf|access-date=22 February 2021|website=Transparency International}}{{dead link|date=June 2025}} Transparency International's mission expanded to address corruption in all its forms through engagement with civil society, business, and government, a strategy Eigen described as 'the magic triangle'.{{Cite web|title=Our story|url=https://www.transparency.org/en/our-story|access-date=2021-02-22|website=Transparency.org|language=en}}

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan reportedly referred to the 10th (anti-corruption) Principle of the UN Global Compact as ‘the Peter Principle’.{{Cite web|title=Transparency International Founder receives prestigious German award…|url=https://www.transparency.org/en/press/20071217-transparency-international-founder-receives-prestigious-german-awa?token=hs44YDRdE93007gcC1pW_JrNlMmWE-Zl|access-date=2021-02-22|website=Transparency.org|language=en}}

By the late 1990s, Eigen believed the World Bank had the political will and resources to support anti-corruption efforts but lacked of direct mechanisms to finance and empower civil society organizations globally. Along with other Transparency International board members, including Frank Vogl, Barry Metzger, and Pierre Landell-Mills, Eigen conceptualized the Partnership for Transparency Fund as an independent organization to address this. The PTF was formally registered under New York state law in December 2000, with Eigen serving as its first Board Chair. The PTF was established as a charitable entity, with the goals of providing small grants and technical assistance to civil society organizations working to promote good governance and hold governments accountable.{{Cite web|title=Our History|url=https://ptfund.org/history/|access-date=2025-03-26|website=PT Fund|language=en}}

Peter Eigen initiated the founding of the Berlin Civil Society Centre (now the International Civil Society Centre) in 2007. The Centre was created as think tank. Eigen partnered with Burkhard Gnärig, former CEO of International Save the Children Alliance (London), to establish and lead the Centre. Gnärig served as the Centre’s Managing Director until 2018, working pro bono in the early years.{{Cite web|title=Our Story – The International Civil Society Centre|url=https://icscentre.org/about-us/our-story/|access-date=2021-02-22|website=icscentre.org}}

Eigen contributed as one of the initiators and first chair of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).{{Cite web|title=EITI – Initiative für mehr Transparenz im Rohstoffsektor |url=https://rue.bmz.de/rue/themen/eiti-86602 |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) |language=de}} The initiative was formally launched following the conclusion of the "Publish What You Pay" campaign in June 2003, when representatives from governments, industries, and civil society groups convened in the United Kingdom to endorse a common set of "EITI Principles."{{Cite web|title=Die Anfänge von EITI |url=https://d-eiti.de/die-anfaenge-von-eiti/ |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=D-EITI |language=de}} Under his leadership, the group convened five times between 2005 and 2006, publishing the EITI Validation Guide and creating the framework for the initiative’s governance.{{Cite web|title=Schlussbericht der Internationalen Beratergruppe über die Transparenzinitiative der rohstoffgewinnenden Industrie |url=https://eiti.org/sites/default/files/attachments/eiti_iag_report_german.pdf |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=EITI |language=de}}

In 2022, Peter Eigen founded the Local Electricity Access Programme (LEAP Transparency), a Senegalese-led initiative aimed at advancing equitable, inclusive, and sustainable energy access in rural communities.{{Cite web|title=LEAP's Vision|url=https://leap-transparency.org/en/a-propos-de-nous/vision|access-date=2025-03-26|website=LEAP Transparency|language=en}}

In 1963, Peter Eigen married Jutta Philippi, a physician and musician, with whom he had three children. Jutta Eigen died in 2002.

• Eigen, P. (2008). The Web of Corruption – How a Global Movement Fights Graft / Adapted from the original *Das Netz der Korruption*, Frankfurt/Main, Campus Verlag, 2003. ISBN 3-593-37188-X.
• Eigen, P. (2003). Das Netz der Korruption / Campus Verlag, Frankfurt/Main, New York. / Language: German.

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Category:1938 births

Category:Living people

Category:Jurists from Bavaria

Category:Harvard Kennedy School faculty

Category:People from Augsburg