Vladimir Petrovsky (1933- ) became under-secretary-general for political affairs in 1992 and director-general of the UN Office in Geneva (1993-2002). He had earlier worked in the UN secretariat (1964-71) on leave from the Soviet Foreign Ministry after which he worked in Moscow on Soviet/U.S. relations in the Foreign Policy Planning Department, headed the Department of International Organizations (1979-86), and was first deputy foreign minister (1986-91). His other UN affiliations include secretary-general of the Conference on Disarmament; chair of the Task Force drafting An Agenda for Peace; and the Secretary-General’s special envoy to Libya (1992-93) and to Albania (1998). He was born in Russia and educated at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations; and he is the author of seven books in Russian.

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