kurt waldheim

English - English

Definition of kurt waldheim in English English dictionary: Austrian statesman and diplomat; born Dec. 21, 1918, Sankt Andrä-Wördern, Austria Fourth secretary-general of the United Nations (1972-81). After military service in the German army before and during World War II, he entered the Austrian foreign service and served successively as ambassador to Canada (1958-60) and the UN (1964-68, 1970-71) and as foreign minister (1968-70). Elected to succeed U Thant as UN secretary-general, he served two terms, during which he oversaw disaster relief in Bangladesh, Nicaragua, and Guatemala and peacekeeping missions in Cyprus, the Middle East, Angola, and Guinea. Denied a third term, he returned to Austria and ran for president in 1986. His candidacy became controversial when it was learned that he had been a member of the Nazi Party and had served in a German army unit that had deported most of the Jewish population of the Greek town of Salonika to Nazi death camps in 1943. Elected nonetheless, he was diplomatically isolated throughout his term (1986-92)

kurt waldheim