Former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger has died aged 100.
His consulting firm, Kissinger Associates, confirmed the news in a statement late Wednesday.
“Dr. Henry Kissinger, a respected American scholar and statesman, died today at his home in Connecticut,” the statement read in part.
The statement, which did not provide a cause of death, revealed that Kissinger’s family would hold a private funeral, with a memorial service to take place later in New York, where Kissinger grew up after his Jewish family fled Nazi Germany in 1938.
An enigmatic diplomat and fixture in US foreign policy in the 1970s, he served as Secretary of State under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
Kissinger received a Nobel Peace Prize for helping arrange the end of US military involvement in the Vietnam War.
His notable achievements include the diplomatic opening of China to the US, landmark US-Soviet arms deals and peacemaking between Israelis and Arabs.
A well-known workaholic, he remained active even in retirement as a centenarian, travelling to China in July to meet President Xi Jinping.