Giandomenico picco biography of christopher

UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs (1948–2024)

Giandomenico Picco (8 October 1948 – 10 March 2024), also known as Gianni Picco, was an Italian diplomat and United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, who negotiated the release of 11 hostages held by terrorists in Lebanon, earning him the epithets "chief troubleshooter" and "unarmed soldier of diplomacy" from United Nations Secretary-GeneralJavier Pérez de Cuéllar.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Background

Giandomenico Picco was born on 8 October 1948 in Udine, Italy.^{[7][8][9][10]} He studied at the Liceo Classico Jacopo Stellini in Udine, Italy, BA in political science at the University of Padua, MA in international relations and comparative politics at the University of California at Santa Barbara (via the U.S.-Italy Fulbright Commission), the Universi