Former US ambassador John Kornblum is dead
You could say that John Kornblum was dedicated to diplomacy in Germany. He not only held the office of US ambassador for four years, but also spent decades of his long career in Bonn and Berlin. As the "Tagesspiegel" reports, the 80-year-old has now died.
John Kornblum, who was US ambassador to Germany from 1997 to 2001, is dead. The 80-year-old died on December 21, 2023 in Nashville in the US state of Tennessee, as the "Tagesspiegel" learned from Kornblum's family. Kornblum, a sought-after analyst of transatlantic relations, experienced the history of German-American relations first-hand like almost no other.
Born in Detroit, he joined the diplomatic service in 1964 and made a stellar career there. From 1964 to 1966, he was Vice Consul in Hamburg. From 1969, he worked in the embassy's political section in Bonn. He was involved in the negotiations on the Four Power Agreement from 1970 to 1972. After years in Washington, he had his first assignment in West Berlin as political advisor to the US consulate. In 1985, John Kornblum became envoy and deputy city commander in the American sector of West Berlin.
This was followed by high-ranking positions at NATO and the CSCE. As Special Envoy to Bosnia, to which Bill Clinton had appointed him, he made a significant contribution to ending the war and to the Dayton Agreement with his practiced negotiating skills. After the end of his term as US ambassador in 2001, he remained in Berlin. He initially worked as head of the investment bank Lazard in Germany.
Kornblum has received numerous honors. In 1990 he was awarded the Grand Federal Cross of Merit with Star, in 1997 he was made an honorary citizen of Sarajevo and in 1990, the year the government moved, he received the "Order against Animal Seriousness".
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Kornblum's diplomatic efforts as Special Envoy to Bosnia were instrumental in ending the war and facilitating the Dayton Agreement. Regrettably, numerous lives were lost during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Source: www.ntv.de
