Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar de la Guerra ( , ; 19 January 1920 – 4 March 2020) was a Peruvian diplomat and politician who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991. He later served as

Prime Minister of Peru The president of the Council of Ministers of Peru ( es, link=no, presidente del Consejo de Ministros del Perú), informally called Premier (form of address) or Prime Minister, is the head of the cabinet as the most senior member of the Council ...

from 2000 to 2001. Pérez de Cuéllar was a member of the

Club of Madrid Club de Madrid is an independent non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community. Composed of 121 regular members from 72 countries, including 7 Nobel Peace Prize laureates and 20 first female heads ...

, a group of former heads of state and government, and the Inter-American Dialogue.

Biography

Early years

Pérez de Cuéllar was born on 19 January 1920 in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, Peru, to a rentier family of Spanish descent with ancestry from

Cuéllar Cuéllar () is a municipality in the Province of Segovia, within the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. The municipality had a population of 9,730 inhabitants according to the municipal register of inhabitants (INE) as of 1 Janu ...

. His father, whose ancestors had migrated from Spain in the 16th century, died when he was 4. He attended Colegio San Agustín, learned French from a

governess A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, th ...

and earned a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

from the

Pontifical Catholic University of Peru Pontifical Catholic University of Peru ( es, link=no, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, PUCP) is a private university in Lima, Peru. It was founded in 1917 with the support and approval of the Catholic Church, being the oldest private ...

in 1943.

Diplomatic career

Pérez de Cuéllar joined the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

in 1940 first as an intern, the diplomatic service itself in 1944, serving after that as a 3rd Secretary at Peru's embassy in France, where he met and married his first wife, Yvette Roberts-Darricau (1922–2013), in 1947. He also held posts in Britain, Bolivia and Brazil, and later served as ambassador to Switzerland from 1964 to 1966, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

from 1969 to 1971, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

from 1977 to 1979. From his first marriage, he had a son, Francisco, and a daughter, Águeda Cristina. He was a member of the Peruvian delegation to the

first session of the United Nations General Assembly The first session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 10 January 1946 at the Methodist Central Hall in London. Gladwyn Jebb, executive secretary of the UN, notified Dr. Eduardo Zuleta Angel, head of the Colombian delegation to the ...

, which convened in London in 1946, and of the delegations to the 25th through 30th sessions of the Assembly. In 1971, he was appointed permanent representative of Peru to the UN and led his country's delegation in the Assembly until 1975. In 1973 and 1974, he represented Peru in the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...

, serving as its president at the time of the Cypriot coup d'état in July 1974. On 18 September 1975, he was appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprusa post he held until December 1977, when he rejoined Peru's foreign service. Also in 1975, Pérez de Cuéllar divorced his first wife and married Marcela Temple Seminario (1933–2013), with whom he had no children. On 27 February 1979, he was appointed UN under-secretary-general for Special Political Affairs. From April 1981, he also acted as the Secretary-General's personal representative on the situation in Afghanistan; he visited Pakistan and Afghanistan in April and August of that year to continue negotiations initiated by the Secretary-General some months earlier.

United Nations Secretary-General

President Ali Khamenei and Javier Pérez de Cuéllar

In December 1981, Pérez de Cuéllar was selected to succeed Kurt Waldheim as Secretary-General of the United Nations; he was unanimously re-elected for a second term in October 1986. During his two terms as secretary-general, he led mediations between the United Kingdom and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in the

aftermath of the Falklands War The aftermath of the 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina affected world geopolitics, the local political culture in Argentina and the UK, military thought, medical treatment, and the lives of those who were directly invol ...

and promoted the efforts of the Contadora group to bring peace and stability to Central America. He also interceded in the negotiations for the independence of Namibia, the conflict in Western Sahara, the war between Croatian forces seeking independence and the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...

(as well as the local Serb forces), and the

Cyprus issue The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus dispute, Cyprus issue, Cyprus question or Cyprus conflict, is an ongoing dispute between Greek Cypriots in the south and Turkish Cypriots in the north. Initially, with the occupation of the island b ...

. In 1986 he presided over an international arbitration committee that ruled on the ''Rainbow Warrior'' incident between New Zealand and France. In 1983, he initiated the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) to unite countries to pursue

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

. During the build-up to the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, he convinced 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 ...

to send his secretary of state James Baker to negotiate with Iraqi deputy prime minister

Tariq Aziz Tariq Aziz ( ar, طارق عزيز , 28 April 1936 – 5 June 2015) was an Iraqi politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and a close advisor of President Saddam Hussein. Their association began in the 1950s wh ...

in Geneva. Shortly before the end of his second term, he rejected an unofficial request by members of the Security Council to reconsider his earlier decision not to run for a third term, shortened to two years, as a search for his successor had not, as of then, yielded a consensus candidate. A suitable candidate, Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt, was agreed upon in November 1991, and Pérez de Cuéllar's second term as secretary-general concluded, as scheduled, on 31 December 1991.

Later life and death

Pérez de Cuéllar ran unsuccessfully against

Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenya Fujimori Inomoto ( or ; born 28 July 1938) is a Peruvian politician, professor and former engineer who was President of Peru from 28 July 1990 until 22 November 2000. Frequently described as a dictator, * * * * * * he remains a ...

for president of Peru in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

; following Fujimori's resignation over corruption charges, he served as

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

and foreign minister from November 2000 until July 2001. After Alejandro Toledo's election as president in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, he went to Paris as Peru's ambassador to France, retiring in 2004. In 1997, Pérez de Cuéllar published his memoir in which he recounted his years at the UN. He served as

Permanent Delegate of Peru to UNESCO The Permanent Delegate of Peru to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is Peru's foremost diplomat, diplomatic representative at the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and in c ...

until 2004. Pérez de Cuéllar celebrated his

100th birthday A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. Because life expectancies worldwide are below 100 years, the term is invariably associated with longevity. In 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living cent ...

in January 2020 and received congratulations from the United Nations on his 100 years of life. He was the first UN secretary-general to become a centenarian. Pérez de Cuéllar died at his home in Lima on 4 March 2020 two months after he turned 100.

Honours and awards

* 1987: Jawaharlal Nehru Award * 1987: Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation * 1989: "Golden Doves for Peace" International Award, issued by Italian research institute Archivio Disarmo * 1989:

Olof Palme Prize The Olof Palme Prize is an annual Swedish prize awarded for an outstanding achievement in the spirit of Olof Palme. The Prize consists of a diploma and 100,000 US dollars. The prize was established in February 1987 and is awarded by the Olof Palm ...

for International Understanding and Common Security * 1991:

Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

, French chivalric decoration * 1991: Honorary

Knight Grand Cross 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 ...

, bestowed by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

* 1991:

Golden Plate Award The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...

of the American Academy of Achievement * 1991:

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...

, awarded by

* 1992: Freedom Medal He received several honorary degrees from universities, such as the following:

References

External links

Javier Perez de Cuellar papers
at the United Nations Archives
Official UNSG biography
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perez De Cuellar, Javier 1920 births 2020 deaths Ambassadors of Peru to France Ambassadors of Peru to Poland Ambassadors of Peru to Switzerland Ambassadors of Peru to the Soviet Union Ambassadors of Peru to Venezuela Candidates for President of Peru Cold War diplomats Foreign ministers of Peru Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Inter-American Dialogue Men centenarians Peruvian centenarians Peruvian democracy activists Peruvian diplomats Diplomats from Lima Politicians from Lima Peruvian officials of the United Nations Peruvian people of Spanish descent Pontifical Catholic University of Peru alumni Prime Ministers of Peru Secretaries-General of the United Nations Ambassadors of Peru to Russia