Biographies: Kurt Waldheim - Actor

Biographies

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An Austrian politician, diplomat, Secretary-General of the United Nations (1972- 1982), and President of Austria (1986-1992). He wrote a book, The Austrian Model, about Austrian foreign policy. He was born in the village of Sankt Andrä-Wördern near Vienna, the capital of Austria. He studied at the University of Vienna, obtaining a doctorate in the philosophy of legislation in 1944. He also studied at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and worked in the Austrian Diplomatic Service in 1945. Between 1948 and 1951 he held the position of First Secretary of the Austrian Legation in Paris, and from 1951 to 1955 he worked as Head of the Personnel Department of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1955, he was appointed Permanent Observer of Austria to the United Nations. At the end of the same year, he became Head of the Austrian Mission after Austria accepted membership in the organization. In the period between 1956 and 1960, he headed the Austrian mission in Canada as Minister Plenipotentiary and then as Ambassador. In the period between 1960 and 1962, he headed the Political Department in the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then he became Director General of Political Affairs until June 1964. In 1964, he was appointed Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations and remained in this position until 1968, during the same period he assumed the position of Chairman of the Employment Committee. In 1968, he was elected President of the First United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes. From January 1968 until April 1970, he served as the Federal Foreign Minister of Austria. He was unanimously elected Chairman of the IAEA Safeguards Committee, and in October 1970 he was again appointed Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations, and subsequently elected Secretary-General of the United Nations. In 1986, he was elected President of Austria and remained in this position until 1992. He died on June 14, 2007.