Manfred Wörner

Born in Stuttgart, September 24, 1934, Manfred Wörner attended the Universities of Heidelberg and Paris and then pursued legal studies at the University of Munich. He received a doctorate in International Law in 1958, his dissertation having dealt with the defence relations of allied countries.

Mr. Wörner worked as an administrator in the State of Baden-Würtemberg, before becoming parliamentary adviser at the State Diet of Baden-Württemberg in 1962. Elected to the German Bundestag in 1965, he remained a member of parliament until becoming Secretary General of NATO. His special interests as an elected representative have been parliamentary reform and security policy.

Chairman of the Working Group on Defence of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) parliamentary party until 1976, Mr. Wörner was Chairman of the Defence Committee of the German Bundestag until 1980; and Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary party with special responsibility for foreign policy, defence policy, development policy and internal German relations until 1982. During this period he was also a member of the Federal Executive of the CDU and Deputy Chairman of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

From October 1982 until May 1988, Mr. Wörner was Minister of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany. He took up his appointment as Secretary General of NATO on July 1, 1988. Mr. Wörner died in office, on August 13, 1994. He was succeeded by Willy Claes, Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs.