Washington, Nov 29 (EFE).- Former US secretary of state and controversial Nobel Peace Prize laureate Henry Kissinger died Wednesday at the age of 100.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) meets with former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, in Beijing, China, on November 8, 2018. EFE FILE/ Thomas Peter
“Dr. Henry Kissinger, a respected American scholar and statesman, died today at his home in Connecticut,” his consulting firm said in a statement, but did not give a cause of death.
The veteran diplomat and prominent Republican had remained active until the end, giving his opinions on such subjects as Russia’s war in Ukraine and the risks of artificial intelligence.
In July at the age of 100 he visited China to meet with the country’s president, Xi Jinping, who called him an “old friend.”
Kissinger was born on May 27, 1923 in Fürth, , into a Jewish family that fled the Nazis, moving to New York when he was a teenager.
He was a Harvard academic and in 1969, President Richard Nixon appointed him national security advisor. He subsequently served as secretary of state under Presidents Nixon and Gerald Ford — still the only person in the history of the US who has held both positions.
Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize alongside his Vietnamese counterpart Le Duc Thuo for their secret negotiations to end the Vietnam War, and normalized diplomatic relations between the US and China during the Nixon presidency.
However, he will also be ed for his of dictatorships such as those in Argentina between 1976 and 1983 and the last years of Francisco Franco’s regime in Spain, his role in Operation Condor to repress to left-wing Latin American opponents, his for the coup d’état in Chile in 1973, and Indonesia’s 1975 invasion of East Timor, as well as the US’ four-year secret bombing campaign of neutral Cambodia, among others.
Kissinger is survived by his wife Nancy, his two grown children and five grandchildren.
He will be buried in a private family ceremony, but there will be a memorial service in New York at a later date. EFE
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