Son of Professor Georg Picht and his wife Edith Axenfeld, Robert Picht studied sociology and Romance studies at the universities of Munich, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Paris, Madrid and Freiburg.

[1] In 1964 he obtained a Magister Artium degree in French literature in Hamburg.

From 1965 to 1972 he served at the office of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in Paris.

During this time he was also a lecturer for German language and politics at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques and Ecole Nationale d’Administration in Paris.

He also served as Vice President and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the European Cultural Foundation in Amsterdam from 1976 to 1995.