List of United Nations Secretaries-General
Related article: United Nations United Nations
(UN), international organization established immediately after World War II. It replaced the League of Nations. In 1945, when the UN was founded, there were 51 members; 193 nations are now members of the organization (see table entitled United Nations Members).
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| Secretary-General | Nationality | Dates in Office |
| Trygve Halvdan LieLie, Trygve Halvdan , 1896–1968, Norwegian statesman, first secretary-general of the United Nations. A lawyer and Labor party leader, he was Norwegian minister of justice (1935–39) and minister of trade and supply (1939–41). ..... Click the link for more information. | Norwegian | 1946–53 |
| Dag HammarskjöldHammarskjöld, Dag , 1905–61, Swedish statesman, secretary-general of the United Nations (1953–61). He attended the universities of Uppsala and Stockholm (Ph.D., 1934). ..... Click the link for more information. | Swedish | 1953–61 |
| U ThantThant, U , 1909–74, Burmese diplomat, secretary-general of the United Nations (1962–72). Educated at University College, Yangon, he later held positions in education, the press, and broadcasting. ..... Click the link for more information. | Burmese | 1962–71 |
| Kurt WaldheimWaldheim, Kurt , 1918–2007, Austrian diplomat, secretary-general of the United Nations (1972–81) and president of Austria (1986–92). He entered diplomatic service after World War II, serving in France and Canada. ..... Click the link for more information. | Austrian | 1972–81 |
| Javier Pérez de CuéllarPérez de Cuéllar, Javier, 1920–, Peruvian diplomat, secretary-general of the United Nations (1982–92). He entered the Peruvian foreign service in 1940 and served in several posts, including ambassador to the USSR (1969–71) and the United Nations ..... Click the link for more information. | Peruvian | 1982–91 |
| Boutros Boutros-GhaliBoutros-Ghali, Boutros , 1922–2016, Egyptian statesman, secretary-general of the United Nations (1992–96). Born into a politically connected Coptic Christian family, he earned degrees in law at the universities of Cairo (LL.B., 1946) and Paris (Ph.D., 1949). ..... Click the link for more information. | Egyptian | 1992–96 |
| Kofi AnnanAnnan, Kofi Atta 1938–2018, Ghanaian diplomat, the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations (1997–2006) and the first person to hold that office who came from the organization's international bureaucracy, b. Kumasi. ..... Click the link for more information. | Ghanaian | 1997–2006 |
| Ban Ki-MoonBan Ki-Moon , 1944–, South Korean diplomat, secretary-general of the United Nations (2007–16), b. Chungju, grad. Seoul National Univ. (B.S., 1970), Kennedy School of Government, Harvard (M.P.A., 1985). ..... Click the link for more information. | South Korean | 2007–16 |
| António GuterresGuterres, António (António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres), 1949–, Portuguese political leader, secretary-general of the United Nations (2017–), b. Lisbon, grad. Instituto Superior Ténico, Univ. of Lisbon (1971). ..... Click the link for more information. | Portugal | 2017– |