Jacques Havet, a French national, was born on July 30, 1919 in Airaines, France. Havet studied at the Ecole Normale Supérieure and the Sorbonne, earning a Baccalauréat in Classics and Philosophy, a License in Philsophy, Physchology, Ethics, Sociology and Anthropology , as well as a Diplôme d’Etudes Supérieures and an Agrégation in Philosophie.

His career prior to joining UNESCO included the publication of “Kant and the Problem of Time,” translations of works of fiction, and contributed to the French press. During the Second World War, Havet’s father was a political deportee who was killed at Buchenwald concentration camp. In 1944, Havet was in charge of a mission in the cabinet of the Prefet of Liberation for Maine-et Loire. From May to November 1945, he served as head of the documentary film section for the Direction-Générale de la Cinématographie française. From November 1945 through May 1946, he was attached to the National Centre for Scientific Research.

Havet began his career in the Social Sciences and Philosophy Section of the Preparatory Commission of UNESCO in May 1946. After UNESCO formally came into existence, he served in a number of posts in the Department of Cultural Activities, including, in 1957, that of Chief of the Philosophy and Humanistic Studies Section. From 1957 to 1962, he was responsible for coordinating the Major Project on Mutual Appreciation of Eastern and Western Cultural Values. In 1963, he was made the first Director of the Office of the Director-General. Havet then took a special leave to pursue his philosophical research the following year, returning to the Secretariat in January 1967 as a consultant and Rapporteur général for the second part of the study on the Main Trends of Research in the Social and Human Sciences. After the completion of this work, Havet was appointed Director of the Department of Social Sciences in 1973. In the context of a larger reorganization of the sectors in 1975, Havet was named Deputy to the Assistant Director-General of the Social Sciences, Humanities and Culture Sector. The following year he was appointed Deputy Assistant Director-General of the newly created Sector for Social Sciences and their Applications. From November 1978 to August 1979, he acted as Assistant Director-General par interim. Havet was promoted to the personal rank of Assistant Director-General in May 1979 and retired from UNESCO in November 1980.

• Secretariat of the Preparatory Commission of UNESCO, May 1946-November 1946
• Programme Specialist, Philosophy and Humanities Section, November 1946-1947?
• Programme Specialist, Philosophy and Humanistic Studies Section, Department of Cultural Activities, 1948?-1949?
• Programme Specialist, Continuing Studies, Department of Cultural Activities -1950?-1951?
• Programme Specialist, International Research, Department of Cultural Activities 1951?-1952?
• Programme Specialist, Action in the Service of Human Rights, Department of Cultural Activities, 1952?-1954?
• Programme Specialist, International Cultural Exchange Section, Division of International Cultural Cooperation and Exchange, Department of Cultural Activities, 1954?-1955?
• Programme Specialist, Philosophy and Humanistic Studies Section, Department of Cultural Activities, 1955?-1956?
• Chief, Philosophy and Humanistic Studies Section, Department of Cultural Activities, 1957
• Programme Specialist (Co-ordinator), Major Project on Mutual Appreciation of Eastern and Western Cultural Values, Department of Cultural Activities, 1957-1962
• Director, Department of Social Sciences, 16 April 1973-1975
• Deputy to the Assistant Director-General, Office of the Assistant Director-General, Social Sciences, Humanities and Culture Sector, 1975
• Deputy Assistant Director-General, Sector for Social Sciences and their Applications, 1976 - 8 November 1978
• Assistant Director-General par interim, Sector for Social Sciences and their Applications, 9 November 1978 –14 August 1979
• Deputy Assistant Director-General ( with personal title Assistant Director-General), Sector for Social Sciences and their Applications, May 1979-November 1980

• UNESCO (1947). M. Jacques Havet. Paris, October 1947. Unesco/Biographies/Secretariat. UNESCO Archives, Archive Group 6 Secretariat Documents.
• UNESCO. (1957). “Project is ‘Exciting Challenge.’” UNESCO House News. No.3. 25 January 1957. UNESCO Archives, Archive Group 7 UNESCO Publications, ODG/17.
• UNESCO (1973). Département des Sciences Sociales. 16 avril 1973. ODG/DG/Mémo 32.338. UNESCO Archives, Archive Group 6 Secretariat Documents.
• UNESCO. (1987). A Chronology of UNESCO 1945-1987. LAD.85/WS/4 Rev. Paris, December 1987. Accessed online in UNESDOC 21 September 2011: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0007/000790/079049eb.pdf
• UNESCO Archives, Archive Group 6: Secretariat Documents, Staff Lists.