Henry Kissinger

Born: 1923

Statesman

Henry Alfred Kissinger was born Heinz Alfred Kissinger in Fürth in Franconia, Bavaria to a Jewish family. The name Kissinger refers to the city of Bad Kissingen and was taken as the family's last name by his great-great-grandfather, Meyer Löb, in 1817.

Fleeing from persecution by the Nazi regime during the Third Reich era, the family moved to New York in 1938. Henry Kissinger became a United States citizen in June of 1943.

A diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1973 together with Le Duc Tho for ending the Vietnam War, Kissinger served as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State during the Nixon and Ford administrations.

Throughout his career Kissinger has played a dominant role in United States foreign policy. The policy associated with his name, détente, helped to relax the tension that existed between the United States of America and the then Soviet Union. He also helped to develop a rapprochement between the United States and China.

After leaving the government services, Kissinger founded a consulting firm, Kissinger Associates, where he still works as a lecturer and foreign policy consultant. In Germany, he is known as an ardent supporter and honorary member of the the city’s soccer club, Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth. In 1998, Kissinger was made an honorary citizen of Fürth, Germany.

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