Boutros Boutros-Ghali

The first African to become secretary-general of the 
United Nations is a native of Egypt .

From the article below you’ll find out information about the life and deeds of this remarkable person.

He headed the secretariat, which is one of the 6 main institutions of the union. The significance of his activities is difficult to deny. In many respects, he differs from his followers and predecessors.

Family, youth, and scientific activity

MARK MY WORDS

He was born on November 14, 1922, came from a fairly influential, well-known Christian Coptic family that occupied important positions in Egypt. His mother Safeya Mikhail Sharobim was the daughter of a prominent public servant and historian Mikhail Bey Sharobim. During the monarchy, representatives of this Christian familles were ambassadors, chamberlains and ministers. 

The paternal grandfather of the future United Nations secretary general whose name was Boutros Pasha Ghali, was the prime minister of Egypt at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1910, he was shot to death at the hands of nationalist. The uncle of Boutros Ghali - Wassif was the Egyptian minister of Foreign Affairs in 1924. His nephew Youssef Boutros Ghali, was the Minister of finance for a long time during the era of Mubarak and was Chair of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (2008). His little cousin Mounir Abdelnour was minister of Tourism and then minister of Industry under President Sissi. 

Boutros Boutros-Ghali's wife, Leia Maria Boutros-Ghali, née Leia Nadler, (Daughter of Nadler, owner of a sweets factories in Alexandria) was raised in an Egyptian Jewish family later converting to Roman Catholicism as a young woman. They had no children.

The young Boutros followed the route of his famous ancestors and built a career for himself in the political industry and in law and economics. Boutros received his education at the University of Cairo. Three years later he became a doctor of philosophy after studying international law at the University of Paris.

This man was fluent in Arabic, French and English, which further gave him an edge in the struggle for the post of UN Secretary General. He was also invested in political science, public law, and economics.

For each of these sciences, he had prestigious diplomas. Between 1949-1977 he was engaged in international relations and law as a professor. He also worked at Columbia University in the 1950s. He headed the research department at the Hague academy and acted as a freelance professor in Paris. Many Egyptian diplomats were  the students of Boutros at Cairo University. 

From 1960 to about 1975 , Boutros-Ghali founded,edited and wrote for the Egyptian news paper Al-Ahram (El-Ektesady) , where his beat was regional and international law, diplomacy and political science. 

Political career

DOCTOR BOUTROS BOUTROS-GHALI

He headed the Egyptian Foreign Ministry as foreign political adviser (Minister) to two presidents - Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak from 1977 to 1991. During is tenure, Egypt made a fateful peace with Israel, for which Sadat received the Nobel Peace Prize, and then paid with his life at the hands of the Islamists.

Boutros became the first UN secretary general among representatives of Arab states and Africa and held this post from 1992 to 1996. Boutros-Ghali largely foresaw changes in global politics, having issued a document in 1992 titled "An Agenda for Peace" where he outlined the views of the diplomat on the political development of the world community. This document is very relevant to this day. 

The period of his work is described in his memoirs. "As SG, I defended the independence of the UN," he said. Guided by this goal, he took several steps that affected the interests of the US (and Israel), which ultimately deprived him of chances of re-election as UN head for a second term. Despite his great diplomatic efforts, he was unable to prevent the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, where more than 1 million people died. 

VISITING THE PEACE KEEPER

The politician said that he contacted the leaders of various states, asking them to send troops to prevent the monstrous crisis. "Unfortunately, let me say that I failed. This is a scandal " Boutros-Ghali said when the Rwandan Hutus began to routinely destroy the Tutsi. Critics argued that his active intervention only spurred the violence. Two years later, in 1996, despite the pressure from the US, he authorized the publication of a report on the tragedy in the Lebanese village of Qana in spring of the same year. As a result of the shelling of UN peacekeeping force post in Lebanon by Israeli artillery, about 100 refugees (including 52 children) were killed and 116 people were injured. The UN experts conducted an investigation and came to the understanding that the bombardment was intentional. The US then persistently advised the SG not to publish the report on the investigation in Qana, but to only declare it verbally. However, Boutros Ghali felt that people had the right to know everything. 

Ultimately, the United States vetoed his re-election as secretary general, and he was the only SG in this post who served 1 term. In his last years, he lived between Cairo and Paris, a city that he loved very much. 

Critic of the USA

Ghali was critical about the role of the United States in the UN, saying in an interview after his resignation that the organization had turned into an "instrument of American foreign policy." He is remembered for his irreconcilable resistance to American actions in the Balkans. 

ANOTHER DOCTORATE

The diplomat also spoke out against the bombing of Bosnia, which the US planned to carry out. In 1999, in his autobiographical book "Unvanquished: A US-UN Saga" Boutros-Ghali criticized many representatives of the US administration during the tenure of Bill Clinton and, in particular, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, calling her "an insignificant political adviser" and a bad diplomat. The book caused a negative reaction from the White House. He was not an American "protégé". 

He was the secretary general with his own opinion which were very extraordinary and that's why the Americans forced him to resign. The job of this Egyptian diplomat was particularly difficult since it was a morbid time for many countries. New world political system emerged at the time. This was primarily due to the consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union, one of the founders of the UN. The Soviet Union disintegrated, the world became unipolar, and in this world, he had to conduct peacekeeping operations. 

Father of peacemaking his "An Agenda for Peace" is especially important for modern peacekeeping within the UN. Ghali defined this quite easily: "Practically feasible mandate; good cooperation in the fulfillment of mandate; continued support from the SC; the readiness of members to send the necessary military, police and civilian personnel, including specialists; due command of the UN; adequate logistical, financial support ". All modern international peacekeeping operations are organized precisely on the basis of these principles. 

THE MAN BEHIND THE SMILE

After leaving the post of UN head in 1996, Ghali continued his work at Hague Academy of International Law. Then he became a Director for Human Rights in Egyptian National Council. The name of this charismatic and charming diplomat is well known to many people interested in world politics. But even those who know a little about the work of the UN remember this man at least for his unusual double name. It has often been mentioned in skits with an international theme. Ghali himself valued good humour and even gave an interview to the famous British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who acted under the pseudonym Ali G. - Boutros-Ghali gave him good advice on how to achieve peace throughout the world. "Lower the cannon and listen to Bob Marley," advised the experienced diplomat.

The formal creation of the Agence intergouvernementale de la Francophonie in 1997 entrusted the former Secretary-General of the United Nations Boutros Boutros-Ghali to be the first secretary-general of "La Francophonie". At the end of his mandate in 2002 Boutros was leaving a trail of innovations and had raised the influence of the organization world wide.

  

From 2003 to 2006, Boutros-Ghali served as the chairman of the board of the South Centre an intergovernmental research organization overseeing research for developing countries. 

At last Boutros-Ghali played a "significant role" in creating Egypt's National Council for Human Rights, and served as its active president until 2012.

The former United Nation Secretary General died on the 16th February 2016 in Cairo  at the age of 94. He was Buried after a state military funeral in the “Boutrosiya” (St-Peter) church build in 1912 for the Boutros family and were his grand father “Boutros Ghali” was laid to rest, this same church was bombed in December 2016 by Islamist terrorists. Boutros Boutros-Ghali left behind a long list of good deeds very worthy of respect.

Video tribute to Boutros Boutros-Ghali - Bibliotheca Alexandrina

CLICK ON ARROW IN THE CENTER OF PICTURE TO VIEW VIDEO

  

Some books from the legacy of Boutros Boutros-Ghali     

·       Egypt's Road to Jerusalem:: A Diplomat's Story of the Struggle for Peace in the Middle East 

·       Agenda for Peace 1995 

·       60 ans de conflit israélo-arabe: Témoignages pour l'histoire 

·       Mes années a la maison de verre 

·       En attendant la prochaine lune -- 

·       The United Nations and Rwanda 1993-1996 VX 

      Egypt's road to Jerusalem (1997), about the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.

·       Unvanquished: A U.S.-U.N. Saga (1999), about his time as Secretary-General at the UN.