use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , nationality = , other_names = Gianni Picco , siglum = , citizenship = , education =

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from B ...

University of California at Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the Un ...

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

, alma_mater = , occupation =

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

officer, last UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs , years_active = 1972-2017 , era = , employer = , organization = , agent = , known_for = negotiations during the

Lebanon hostage crisis The Lebanon hostage crisis was the kidnapping in Lebanon of 104 foreign hostages between 1982 and 1992, when the Lebanese Civil War was at its height. The hostages were mostly US, Americans and Western Europeans, but 21 national origins were repr ...

, notable_works = ''Man Without a Gun'' (1999) , style = , title = , term = , predecessor = , successor = , party = , movement = , opponents = , boards = , spouse = , partner = , children = , parents = , relatives = , family = , awards = Presidential Award for Exceptional Service (US),

Order of St. Michael and St. George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

(UK),

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...

(Germany),

National Order of the Cedar National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(Lebanon), Order of Grande Ufficiale della Repubblica (Italy) , website = Giandomenico Picco, AKA Gianni Picco, born 1948, is an Italian diplomat and former

Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, who negotiated the release of 11 hostages held by terrorists in Lebanon, earning him the epithets "chief troubleshooter" and "unarmed soldier of diplomacy" from

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

Perez de Cuellar.

Background

Giandomenico Picco was born on October 8, 1948, in Italy. Iran's Foreign Minister Nominee Seen as Olive Branch to US
Reuters via VOA (Dubai), 29 July 2013 He studied at the

Liceo Classico Jacopo Stellini Liceo Classico statale Jacopo Stellini is a liceo classico in Udine, Italy, for pupils aged 14 to 19. The high school was founded in 1808, making it the oldest liceo classico in Udine. During World War I, Luigi Cadorna placed the headquarters of t ...

Udine, Italy Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with t ...

, BA in political science at the

, MA in international relations and comparative politics at the

(via the U.S.-Italy Fulbright Commission), the University of Prague, and a diploma in European integration studies at the

Career

United Nations

Picco joined the United Nations in 1973 and served there until 1992. In 1976, Picco began working with Perez de Cuellar in Cyprus, where Picco was serving as political affairs officer to the United Nations Force in Cyprus who reported to its head, de Cuellar. In 1986, Picco represented de Cuellar (who had succeeded

Kurt Waldheim Kurt Josef Waldheim (; 21 December 1918 – 14 June 2007) was an Austrian politician and diplomat. Waldheim was the Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and president of Austria from 1986 to 1992. While he was running for th ...

as UN Secretary-General) in negotiations between France and New Zealand over the sinking of the

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

ship '' Rainbow Warrior''. Picco's efforts were extremely sensitive: "His trips are often shrouded in mystery, and United Nations officials have tried to keep his current movements even more secret." Often, the only news of his whereabouts or activities were "on mission." Perez de Cuellar was known to deny Picco's involvement in some active hostage negotiation, while journalists might happen to sight him in places like Damascus, Syria.

Peace Negotiations

Picco led or participated in peace negotiations including: * 1987: Cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq War * 1988: Geneva agreements leading to Soviet withdrawal from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Hostage Negotiations

Picco served as de Cuellar's personal representative to negotiate release of hostages.Ranstorp, ''Hizb'allah in Lebanon'', (1997) p.167 and may have instigated them. Among those with whom Picco negotiated was

Mohammad Javad Zarif Mohammad Javad Zarif Khansari ( fa, محمدجواد ظریف خوانساری, Mohammad-Javād Zarīf Khānsāri ; ; born 8 January 1960) is an Iranian career diplomat and academic. He was the foreign minister of Iran from 2013 until 2021 in th ...

. Picco led hostage negotiations including: * 1989-1992: Release of 11 hostages during the

including Anglican reverend

Terry Waite Terence Hardy Waite (born 31 May 1939) is an English humanitarian and author. Waite was the Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs for the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, in the 1980s. As an envoy for the Church of England, he ...

, AP bureau chief

Terry A. Anderson Terry A. Anderson (born October 27, 1947) is an American journalist. He reported for the Associated Press. In 1985, he was taken hostage by Shiite, Shia Hezbollah militants of the Islamic Jihad Organization in Lebanon and held until 1991. In 200 ...

, Edward Austin Tracy, and

John McCarthy (journalist) John Patrick McCarthy (born 27 November 1956) is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster, and one of the hostages in the Lebanon hostage crisis. McCarthy was the United Kingdom's longest-held hostage in Lebanon, where he was a prisoner f ...

from the Shi'ite militia Revolutionary Justice Organization * 1999: Release of 13 Jews arrested in Shiraz, Iran, and charged with espionage. At the request of American Jewish leaders, Picco intervened with Iranian President Khatami and succeeded in obtaining the release of all prisoners. (Among hostages Picco could not save were American soldiers

William Francis Buckley William Francis Buckley (May 30, 1928 – June 3, 1985) was a United States Army officer in the United States Army Special Forces, and a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) station chief in Beirut from 1984 until 1985. His cover was as a politica ...

and

William R. Higgins William Richard Higgins (January 15, 1945 – July 31, 1989) was a United States Marine Corps colonel who was captured in Lebanon in 1988 while serving on a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission. He was held hostage, tortured and eventuall ...

Private negotiations

In 1992, Picco left the UN. In 1994, he formed the international consulting firm GDP Associates for business negotiations, based in New York City. He also became president of the Peace Strategies Project, based in

Geneva, Switzerland Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, and US Equity Partners Holdings, LLC. He has served as director of Levcor International, Inc., and the Carlyle Group. The

Pio Manzù International Research Centre The Pio Manzù International Research Centre, commonly referred to as the Pio Manzu Research Centre or Pio Manzu Centre, was a non-governmental environmental organization of the United Nations founded in 1969 and based in Rimini, Italy. The purpose ...

's International Scientific Committee included Picco as vice president and

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

. On their behalf, he presented an award to

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

. He has also spoken to the World Affairs Seminar and gave a keynote address to the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in 2017.

Dialogue Among Civilizations

''See

Dialogue Among Civilizations Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami introduced the idea of Dialogue Among Civilizations as a response to Samuel P. Huntington's theory of a Clash of Civilizations. The term was initially used by Austrian philosopher Hans Köchler who in 1972 ...

'' In 1999, UN Secretary General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...

appointed Picco as Personal Representative for the UN Year of

, proclaimed in 1998. Members included Chinese philosopher

Tu Weiming Tu Weiming (born 1940) is a Chinese-born American philosopher. He is Chair Professor of Humanities and Founding Director of the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University. He is also Professor Emeritus and Senior Fellow of Asi ...

Personal life

Picco has married twice, first to Elena Carretta Toth and second wife to Kate Glucksman. Picco has served on the Ambassador's Council of the United Nation's Association/USA, the European-American Chamber of Commerce, and the International Peace Academy.

Awards

On December 12, 1991, US President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

presented the resenting the Medal of Freedom to de Cuellar and the Presidential Award for Exceptional Service to Picco, while welcoming home American hostages Thomas Sutherland, Alann Steen, Jesse Turner, Joseph Cicippio, and Terry Anderson. Of Picco, President Bush said, "In his years as Special Envoy at the United Nations, Assistant Secretary-General Gianni Picco has sought always to serve peace and to resolve conflict." * 1991: Presidential Award for Exceptional Service (United States of America) * 1993:

(United Kingdom) * 1992:

(Federal Republic of Germany) * 1993:

(Lebanese Republic) * 1993: Order of Grande Ufficiale della Repubblica (Italy) * 1994: Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters,

Marywood University Marywood University is a private Catholic university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Established in 1915 by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Marywood currently enrolls more than 2,800 students in a variety of undergraduate, gradu ...

Works

Picco's principal work, ''Man Without a Gun'' (1999), received favorable reviews. Kirkus wrote, "A must-read for anyone who wants to know what the UN really does." Publishers Weekly wrote, "This memoir of an extraordinary career reads like a combination of a thriller and a textbook on the delicate and dangerous art of diplomacy in an often explosive region." The documentary film, Dawn at Midnight (2014) by

Cetywa Powell Cetywa Powell is an American photographer and filmmaker. She also ran the independent book publishing company, Underground Voices. She has a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Columbia University. Filmography Year Title Credited as Dire ...

draws in part from Picco's memoir ''Man Without a Gun'' (1999). ;Books (English) * ''Lessons of the Iran-Iraq War'' (1990) * ''International Solidarity and National Sovereignty'' (Giovanni Delli Zotti, co-editor) (1995) * ''Man Without a Gun'' (1999) * ''Crossing the Divide: Dialogue Among Civilizations'' editor/contributor with others (2001) * ''The Fog of Peace'' with Gabriel Rifkind (2013) ;Books (Italian) * ''I labirinti del presente'' with Antonio Torrenzano (2004) ;Articles * "The UN and the Use of Force: Leave the Secretary General Out of It," ''Foreign Affairs'' (September/October 1976) * "A New Afghanistan in a New International Construct," Carnegie Council's U.S. Global Engagement Initiative (USGE) (2014) ;Interviews from the United Nations
1998.09.23
Giandomenico Picco, Director of the UN Office for Special Political Affairs
1990.05.24
Giandomenico Picco, Director and Assistant to the UN Secretary-General for Special Assignments
1991.12.06
Giandomenico Picco, UN Assistant Secretary-General
2000.04.20
Giandomenico Picco, Personal Representative of the Secretary-General to the United Nations Year of

References

External links

C-SPAN
Giandomenico Picco
BBC Witness History
Audio interview with "Giandomenico Picco - Hostage Negotiator"

"The U.S. and Iran" (transcript) {{DEFAULTSORT:Picco, Giandomenico Diplomats from Lima Italian officials of the United Nations Italian diplomats Italian democracy activists 1948 births Living people