Kissinger died at his home in Connecticut, the firm said in a statement. No mention was made of the circumstances. It said he would be interred at a private family service, to be followed at a later date by a public memorial service in New York City.
Kissinger had been active past his centenary, attending meetings in the White House, publishing a book on leadership styles, and testifying before a Senate committee about the nuclear threat posed by North Korea. In July 2023 he made a surprise visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In the 1970s, he had a hand in many of the epoch-changing global events of the decade while serving as secretary of state under Republican President Richard Nixon.
Here are some facts on American diplomat Henry Kissinger:
* He was born Heinz Alfred Kissinger in Furth, a city in Germany’s Bavarian region, on May 27, 1923. As an Orthodox Jew, he was bullied by anti-Semites and in 1938 his family joined the exodus from Nazi Germany by moving to New York. He became a naturalised American in 1943.
* Kissinger returned to his homeland during World War Two as a member of the U.S. Army’s 84th Infantry Division. He worked as a translator in intelligence operations and helped round up Gestapo members. He was awarded a Bronze Star.
* After a standout career on the Harvard University faculty, Kissinger joined Richard Nixon’s administration as national security adviser in 1969, a job he kept after Nixon resigned and was succeeded as president by Gerald Ford. He also served as secretary of state under Nixon and Ford.
* Kissinger had a hand in many epoch-changing global events of the 1970s, including the Vietnam War, the diplomatic opening of China, landmark U.S.-Soviet arms control talks and expanded ties between Israel and its Arab neighbours.
