Hennadiy Udovenko

Hennadiy Udovenko Геннадій Удовенко
2nd Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
In office August 5, 1994 – April 17, 1998
Preceded by	Anatoliy Zlenko
Succeeded by	Borys Tarasyuk
President of the United Nations General Assembly
In office 1997–1998
Preceded by	Razali Ismail
Succeeded by	Didier Opertti
Personal details
Born	(1931-06-22)June 22, 1931 Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Died
Political party	People's Movement of Ukraine (former Chairman)

Hennadiy Yosypovych Udovenko (Ukrainian: Геннадій Йосипович Удовенко; June 22, 1931 – February 12, 2013) was a Ukrainian politician and diplomat. He served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, was the 52nd President of the United Nations General Assembly (1997–1998) and a Member of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine (1998–2007). He was from Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. He has studied international relations at Kiev University, having graduated in 1954. He also did graduate studies in agricultural economics at the Ukrainian Research and the Development Institute for Agricultural Economy and Organization from 1956 to 1959.

Early career

Udovenko began his career in 1952 as secretary to the Minister and secretary to the Governing Board of the Ministry of the building materials industry of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. From 1955 to 1958, he was head of the collective farm in the Domantivka village of the Skvyra district of the Kiev region.

Diplomatic career

Udovenko entered diplomatic service in 1959 as 1st secretary, counsellor at the Department of International Economic organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1965–71, he worked at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland. Between 1971 and 1977, he was successively head of the personnel department and head of the International economic organizations department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR.

From 1977 to 1980, he was Director of the Interpretation and Meetings Division at the Department of Conference Services of the United Nations office in New York City.

In 1980–1985, he was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, and was assigned the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in January 1985.

From February 1985 to March 1992, he was Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations and Vice-Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid. 1989–1991 – Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. At the same time, in 1991–1992, he was Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine. In 1992–1994, he served as Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland.

From 1994 until 1998, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and member of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. In September 1997, he was elected President of the 52nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly for one year, continuing as President of the 10th emergency special and 20th special sessions of the UN GA.

Political activities

On May 14, 1999, Udovenko was elected Chairman of the People's Movement of Ukraine (Narodnyi Rukh Ukrainy) political party, having served as acting chairman since the end of March 1999, when the previous Chairman of Rukh, Vyacheslav Chornovil, had died in a car accident. He was reelected in 2001 and served as Chairman of the party until May 3, 2003, having been succeeded by Borys Tarasyuk who had earlier also succeeded him as Ukraine's Foreign Minister.

As member of Rukh, he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada, the Parliament of Ukraine, in 1998. In the spring of 1999 the parliamentary faction of Rukh did split up in 2 different factions and the breakaway faction was led by Udovenko.

In 2002, he again became Member of Parliament as part of the electoral list of Our Ukraine bloc, which had been created with active cooperation on the part of Udovenko. During the 3rd and 4th convocations of the Verkhovna Rada, he was Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and Inter-ethnic Relations.

In the 2006 parliamentary elections, he was again part of the Our Ukraine list, but declined laying down his parliamentary mandate during the political crisis in the spring of 2007, when more than 150 MPs from Our Ukraine and Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc resigned from the parliament, giving the President the legal grounds for dissolving the Verkhovna Rada. Aged 76, Udovenko chose not to participate in the new elections.

Death

Udovenko died in a Kievian hospital on 12 February 2013; the cause of death was not communicated. Udovenko had been hospitalized at the same hospital in early February 2013.

References

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Razali Ismail	President of the United Nations General Assembly 1997–1998	Succeeded by Didier Opertti Badan