Vladimir Petrovsky

Vladimir Fedorovich Petrovsky
Deputy UN Secretary-General – Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva
In office
1993–2002
Preceded by Antuan Blanka
Succeeded by Sergei Ordzhonikidze
First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR
In office
21 September – 26 December 1991
Preceded by Yuliy Kvicinsky
Personal details
Born 29.4.1933
Volgograd, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
Died 21.2.2014
Education MGIMO
Profession Diplomat of russia
Awards Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Order of the Badge of Honour
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"

Vladimir Fedorovich Petrovsky (Russian: Влади́мир Фёдорович Петро́вский; IPA: [vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ˈfʲɵdərəvʲɪtɕ pɪt'rovskʲɪj], 29 April 1933, Stalingrad – 21 February 2014) was a Soviet/Russian diplomat, Ambassador, professor in history, politician and writer.

He served as Deputy Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union under President Mikhail Gorbachev. In 1992 he became UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs in New York. From 1993–2002 he was Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva. During this time he was also Secretary-General of the Conference for Disarmament. After his retirement from the United Nations V. Petrovsky established the non-governmental organization Comprehensive Dialogue Among Civilizations (CDAC).

Vladimir Petrovsky passed away on 21 February 2014 after a long illness.

Biography

Public service

1957–1961:

1961–1964:

1964–1971:

1971–1979:

1972–1975:

1979–1986:

1986–1991:

1991:

1992:

1992–1993:

1998:

1993–2002:

2002–2010:

Formal education

Doctorate in History, Institute of international Relations and World Economy, 1975

LL.D, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, 1962

MA, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, 1957

Foreign Ministry of the Former Soviet Union

Cuban Missile Crisis

During October 1962 Vladimir Petrovsky worked in the office of Foreign Minister Andrey Gromyko. There were long periods of non-stop work in the Foreign Ministry building on Smolenskaya Square in Moscow to attend emergency meetings and action groups to resolve the Cuban missile crisis. On 27 October 1962 the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepared a positive response to the US request for the withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba in exchange for government's assurances on compliance with the territorial integrity of the island. Vladimir Petrovsky later analyzed this intense period in his memoirs.

The Helsinki Final Act

Vladimir Petrovsky was strongly involved to research and structurise all the details of the Soviet delegation's position towards the Helsinki Process followed by the Helsinki Final Act (The Helsinki Accords). It was signed during July and 1 August 1975 and became at the time a declaration of attempt to improve relations between the Communist bloc and the West. The Helsinki Accords served as the groundwork for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe(OSCE).

Perestroika

Before announcing Perestroika in 1987, the Soviet government had done a multy level research and analytical work accomplished by both the political and academical elite. In 1986 Vladimir Petrovsky was appointment as Deputy Foreign Minister of the USSR and received a task to help promote the process later known as glasnost (openness) with an assignment to supervise the Press Department, while being also in charge for other areas of Foreign Ministry. Vladimir Petrovsky was among the specialists of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that were chosen to formulate the progressive concepts for the framework of the New Political Thinking. In 1988 Vladimir Petrovsky was part of the task force preparing the draft for the landmark address that President Gorbachev gave at the UN General Assembly on 6 December 1988.

The United Nations

In February 1992 Vladimir Petrovsky was appointed as the UN's Under-Secretary-General for political affairs and soon become chairman of the drafting committee for the 'Agenda for Peace". He served in this position until March 1993 when he was promoted to become Director General of the UN Office in Geneva. He strongly promoted better cooperation among the different UN agencies as well as with regional organisation and the host country Switzerland.

Disarmament

Throughout his long diplomatic career Vladimir Petrovsky strongly stressed the essential role that disarmament should play in the comprehensive approach to security in the world. In 1978, he became a member of the Soviet delegation to the First Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Disarmament. He was involved in working out the details of the multilateral machinery for disarmament and the rules for the Conference on Disarmament (CD). In 1979, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan the only possibility to communicate with the West on the diplomatic level were consultations on nuclear weapons nonproliferation. In 1993, Vladimir Petrovsky became the Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva, the organization for which he had helped to develop the rules of conduct earlier in 1978. Under his chairmanship the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva was able to negotiate the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, signed in 1996. He remained in the position of CD's Secretary-General until his retirement from the United Nations in 2002.

NGOC – comprehensive dialogue among civilizations

During his work in the UN Vladimir Petrovsky promoted dialogue in all aspects, organizing a wide spectrum of events such as masterclasses, art and photo exhibits and musical performances at the Palais des Nations. Encouraged by this work at the UN, Petrovsky founded the non-governmental organization – Comprehensive Dialogue Among Civilizations (CDAC) upon his retirement from the UN in 2002. The uniqueness of the organisation was the multifaceted approach to dialogue. His last publication "The Triad of Strategic Security of the Global Community" (2007), fell into this period.

After his passing in 2014, the book "Vladimir Petrovsky: The Master Diplomat” was published in 2015, highlighting his political vision and his major achievements in the field of political and public service.

Vladimir Petrovsky and Art

“The state of the nation, its sense of beauty and its humour, its dreams and its history – everything is reflected in its art. I hope that this exhibition at the Palais des Nations will help many people who are coming here from all over the world to better understand Russian culture and the so-called mysterious "Russian soul".

Vladimir Petrovsky’s Welcome address to the art exhibit "Russian Collection in the Palais des Nations" 9.06.1997

Vladimir Petrovsky had been introduced to Salvador Dalí, was in frequent contact with famous sculptors and artists such as Ernst Neizvestny, Michail Chemyakin, Michail and Vita Romadin and Leonid Sokov.

He also entertained a close friendship for many years with artist and spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy.

Signficant publications

Links

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