This article details the central role—often overlooked in the literature—played by committed individuals and interested parties in establishing the refugee definition contained in the 1951 Refugee Convention. It conveys the struggle that took place between the two camps of national representatives who finalized the Convention, termed the ‘universalists’ and ‘Europeanists’ by one contemporary diplomat because of their contrasting geographical and conceptual preferences. Although various regional and international developments have complemented and broadened Article 1 significantly over the last 60 years, none of them have actually replaced it. Recent discussions over the need to adapt a more ‘political’ or ‘humanitarian’ refugee definition do not represent a new phenomenon; they merely resemble a modern continuation of the contrasting views put forward by a variety of personalities involved in the formation of the 1951 Refugee Convention.