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Javier Pérez de Cuéllar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In thisSpanish name,the first or paternalsurnameisPérez de Cuéllarand the second or maternal family name isde la Guerra.
"Pérez de Cuéllar" redirects here. For the Peruvian philanthropist, Javier's wife, seeMarcela Pérez de Cuéllar.

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Pérez de Cuéllar in 1982
5thSecretary-General of the United Nations
In office
1 January 1982 – 31 December 1991
Preceded byKurt Waldheim
Succeeded byBoutros Boutros-Ghali
Prime Minister of Peru
In office
22 November 2000 – 28 July 2001
PresidentValentín Paniagua
Preceded byFederico Salas
Succeeded byRoberto Dañino
Minister of Foreign Relations
In office
22 November 2000 – 28 July 2001
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byFernando de Trazegnies
Succeeded byDiego García-Sayán
Ambassador of Peru
1964–1966Ambassador to Switzerland
1969–1971Ambassador to theSoviet UnionandPoland
1977–1979Ambassador to Venezuela
2001–2004Ambassador to France
Personal details
Born
Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar y de la Guerra

(1920-01-19)19 January 1920
Lima,Peru
Died4 March 2020(2020-03-04)(aged 100)
Lima, Peru
Political partyUnion for Peru(from 1994)
Spouses
Yvette Roberts-Darricau
​
​
(m.1947;div.1975)​
​
​
(m.1975; died 2013)​
Children2 (by Roberts-Darricau)
Alma materPontifical Catholic University of Peru
Occupation
  • Diplomat
  • politician
Signature

Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar de la Guerra(/ˈpɛrɛsdəˈkweɪjɑːr/PERR-ess dəKWAY-yar,[1]Spanish:[xaˈβjeɾˈpeɾesðeˈkweʝaɾ];19 January 1920 – 4 March 2020) was a Peruvian diplomat and politician who served as the fifthSecretary-General of the United Nationsfrom 1982 to 1991. He later served asPrime Minister of Perufrom 2000 to 2001.

Pérez de Cuéllar was a member of theClub of Madrid,a group of former heads of state and government,[2]and theInter-American Dialogue.[3]

Biography[edit]

Early years[edit]

Pérez de Cuéllar was born on 19 January 1920 inLima,Peru,[4]to a rentier family of Spanish descent with ancestry fromCuéllar.[5][6]His father, whose ancestors had migrated from Spain in the 16th century, died when he was 4.[7]He attendedColegio San Agustín,learned French from agovernessand earned alaw degreefrom thePontifical Catholic University of Peruin 1943.

Diplomatic career[edit]

Pérez de Cuéllar joined theMinistry of Foreign Affairsin 1940 first as an intern, the diplomatic service itself in 1944, serving after that as a 3rd Secretary at Peru's embassy in France,[8]where he met and married his first wife, Yvette Roberts-Darricau (1922–2013), in 1947.[9][10]He also held posts in Britain, Bolivia and Brazil,[5]and later served as ambassador to Switzerland from 1964 to 1966, theSoviet UnionandPolandfrom 1969 to 1971, andVenezuelafrom 1977 to 1979.[11]From his first marriage, he had a son, Francisco, and a daughter, Águeda Cristina.[5]

He was a member of the Peruvian delegation to thefirst session of the United Nations General Assembly,which convened in London in 1946,[5]and of the delegations to the 25th through 30th sessions of the Assembly.[8]In 1971, he was appointedpermanent representativeof Peru to the UN and led his country's delegation in the Assembly until 1975.[5]

In 1973 and 1974, he represented Peru in theUN Security Council,serving asits presidentat the time of theCypriot coup d'étatin July 1974.[8]On 18 September 1975, he was appointedSpecial Representative of the Secretary-Generalin Cyprus – a post he held until December 1977, when he rejoined Peru's foreign service.[8]Also in 1975, Pérez de Cuéllar divorced his first wife and marriedMarcela Temple Seminario(1933–2013),[9][12]with whom he had no children.[13]

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 thesituation 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.[8]

United Nations Secretary-General[edit]

Pérez de Cuéllar and Iranian presidentAli KhameneiinTehran,1987

In December 1981, Pérez de Cuéllar wasselectedto succeedKurt WaldheimasSecretary-General of the United Nations;[14]he was unanimously re-elected for a second term in October 1986.[15]

During his two terms as secretary-general, he led mediations between the United Kingdom andArgentinain theaftermath of the Falklands War[12]and promoted the efforts of theContadora groupto bring peace and stability to Central America.[16]He also interceded in thenegotiations for the independence of Namibia,[5]theconflict in Western Sahara,[17]the war betweenCroatian forces seeking independenceand theYugoslav People's Army(as well as thelocal Serbforces),[18]and theCyprus issue.[19]In 1986 he presided over an international arbitration committee that ruled on theRainbow Warriorincidentbetween New Zealand and France.[20]In 1983, he initiated theWorld Commission on Environment and Development(WCED) to unite countries to pursuesustainable development.[21]During the build-up to theGulf War,he convinced US presidentGeorge H. W. Bushto send his secretary of stateJames Bakerto negotiate with Iraqi deputy prime ministerTariq Azizin Geneva.[22]

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.[citation needed]A suitable candidate,Boutros Boutros-Ghaliof Egypt, wasagreed upon in November 1991,[23]and Pérez de Cuéllar's second term as secretary-general concluded, as scheduled, on 31 December 1991.[5]

Later life and death[edit]

Pérez de Cuéllar in 2008

Pérez de Cuéllar ran unsuccessfully againstAlberto Fujimoriforpresident of Peruin1995;following Fujimori's resignation over corruption charges, he served asprime ministerand foreign minister[5]from November 2000 until July 2001.[24]AfterAlejandro Toledo's election as president in2001,[13]he went to Paris as Peru's ambassador to France, retiring in 2004.[24]

In 1997, Pérez de Cuéllar published his memoirPilgrimage for Peacein which he recounted his years at the UN.[5]He served asPermanent Delegate of Peru to UNESCOuntil 2004.

Pérez de Cuéllar celebrated his100th birthdayin January 2020 and received congratulations from the United Nations on his 100 years of life.[25][26]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.[27][5]

Honours and awards[edit]

He received several honorary degrees from universities, such as the following:

References[edit]

  1. ^"Pérez de Cuéllar".Collins English Dictionary.Retrieved13 January2022.
  2. ^"Former Heads of State and Government".Club de Madrid. Archived fromthe originalon 23 September 2015.Retrieved11 May2015.
  3. ^"Javier Pérez de Cuéllar".Inter-American Dialogue. Archived fromthe originalon 13 April 2017.Retrieved13 April2017.
  4. ^Roberts, Priscilla (8 October 2010)."Pérez de Cuéllar, Javier".InTucker, Spencer C.(ed.).The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars: The United States in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts [5 volumes].ABC-CLIO. pp. 968–969.ISBN978-1-85109-948-1.
  5. ^abcdefghijkMcFadden, Robert D.(5 March 2020)."Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Dies at 100; U.N. Chief Brokered Peace Pacts".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on 7 March 2020.Retrieved25 March2021.
  6. ^Briceno, Franklin (5 March 2020)."Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian two-term UN chief, dies at 100".AP News.Retrieved25 March2021.
  7. ^McFadden, Robert D. (5 March 2020)."Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Dies at 100; U.N. Chief Brokered Peace Pacts".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved23 January2023.
  8. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"Javier Perez de Cuellar".United Nations Secretary-General.Archivedfrom the original on 6 March 2020.Retrieved12 January2022.
  9. ^ab"Javier Pérez de Cuéllar obituary".The Times.ISSN0140-0460.Archivedfrom the original on 26 October 2021.Retrieved13 January2022.
  10. ^The International Year Book and Statesmen's Who's Who.Vol. 26. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1978. p. 565.
  11. ^Leyden, Andrew (1997).Gulf War Debriefing Book: An After Action Report.Hellgate Press. p. 15.ISBN978-1-55571-396-6.
  12. ^abCrowther, Linnea (5 March 2020)."Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (1920–2020), former secretary-general of the United Nations".Legacy.com.Retrieved13 January2022.
  13. ^ab"Former UN chief Javier Perez de Cuellar dies aged 100".RTÉ News.5 March 2020.Retrieved13 January2022.
  14. ^"Security Council Elects a Peruvian Secretary General".The New York Times.12 December 1981.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved13 January2022.
  15. ^Sciolino, Elaine(11 October 1986)."Man in the News: Javier Perez de Cuellar; Unanimously, the U.N.'s Man".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved13 January2022.
  16. ^Wilkinson, Tracy (19 January 1987)."U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar and the foreign..."United Press International.Retrieved13 January2022.
  17. ^"Former UN chief Javier Pérez de Cuéllar dies aged 100".BBC News.5 March 2020.Archivedfrom the original on 5 March 2020.Retrieved13 January2022.
  18. ^"UNPROFOR".United Nations.Retrieved13 January2022.
  19. ^"U.N. chief says new Cyprus talks possible".United Press International.14 August 1985.Retrieved13 January2022.
  20. ^"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 29 December 2009.Retrieved28 December2012.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. ^Caradonna, Jeremy L. (1 August 2014).Sustainability: A History.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-937242-3.
  22. ^Henriksen, Thomas H. (31 January 2022).America's Wars: Interventions, Regime Change, and Insurgencies after the Cold War(1st ed.). Cambridge University Press.doi:10.1017/9781009053242.003.ISBN978-1-009-05324-2.S2CID245293332.
  23. ^Lewis, Paul (22 November 1991)."Security Council Selects Egyptian for Top U.N. Post".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved13 January2022.
  24. ^abGott, Richard(5 March 2020)."Javier Pérez de Cuéllar obituary".The Guardian.Retrieved13 January2022.
  25. ^"Former UN chief Perez de Cuéllar celebrates his 100th birthday".UN News.18 January 2020.Archivedfrom the original on 13 January 2022.Retrieved13 January2022.
  26. ^"Javier Pérez de Cuéllar: ONU envió saludo por sus 100 años de vida"(in Spanish). Lima.Andina.16 January 2020.Retrieved27 January2023.
  27. ^"Javier Pérez de Cuéllar falleció a los 100 años".El Comercio(in Spanish). 4 March 2020.Archivedfrom the original on 17 June 2020.Retrieved5 March2020.
  28. ^"Nehru Award Recipients".Indian Council for Cultural Relations.Archived fromthe originalon 15 August 2016.Retrieved8 October2017.
  29. ^"List of Winners (1986–2020)"(PDF).Archivio Disarmo.Retrieved12 January2022.
  30. ^abBrozan, Nadine (5 December 1991)."Chronicle".The New York Times.Retrieved4 October2021.
  31. ^"Golden Plate Awardees".Academy of Achievement.Archivedfrom the original on 15 December 2016.Retrieved13 January2022.
  32. ^"Four Freedoms Awards".Roosevelt Institute.25 March 2015. Archived fromthe originalon 25 March 2015.Retrieved12 January2022.
  33. ^"Honorary doctor Javier Pérez de Cuéllar dies aged 100".Vrije Universiteit Brussel. 5 March 2020.Retrieved25 October2020.[permanent dead link]
  34. ^"Doktorzy honoris causa"(in Polish). Jagiellonian University.Archivedfrom the original on 27 March 2015.Retrieved25 October2020.
  35. ^"Javier Perez De Cuellar, Doctor Honoris Causa at Leiden University".Leiden Journal of International Law.1(2). University of Cambridge: 199–203. 1988.doi:10.1017/S092215650000087X.S2CID250440519.Retrieved25 October2020.
  36. ^"Perez de Cuellar Receives Honorary Doctorate".Retrieved25 October2020– via UN Multimedia.
  37. ^"DOCTORES HONORIS CAUSA".Universidad de Lima.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Secretary-General of the United Nations
1982–1991 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Peru
2000–2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Relations
2000–2001 		Succeeded by
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