Gert Rosenthal Koenigsberger (born 11 September 1935) is a Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

n diplomat.

He was born in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 to a German father and Guatemalan mother and came to Guatemala at the age of three. After secondary education in Guatemala, he studied in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and received a BA and an MA in economics from the University of California at Berkeley. He then pursued further studies in economics at San Carlos University

Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala

The Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala It is the biggest and oldest university of Guatemala, also it is the fourth founded in the Americas....

 in Guatemala City.

He entered government service in 1960 as a part-time economist at the National Planning
Secretariat. In 1964 he was appointed representative of Guatemala on the Executive
Council of the Central American Common Market, rising to Assistant to the Secretary-General of the Common Market's Secretariat in 1967.
Between 1969 and 1970 he headed the National Planning Secretariat, a ministerial-level position.
In 1971 he was named a fellow at the Adlai Stevenson Institute for International Affairs in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.
Between 1972 and 1973 he directed a project in Guatemala for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body. It is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment, and development issues....

, intended to promote the Central American Common Market. In 1973-74 he again headed the National Planning Secretariat

Between 1974 and 1985 he was the Director of the Mexico-based subregional office of the
United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). In 1985, was promoted to Deputy Executive Secretary at ECLAC's headquarters in Santiago, Chile

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

, and, in 1988, to Executive Secretary, with responsibility for the entire Latin America and Caribbean region.

In 1998 he was a member of the Oversight Commission of the Guatemalan Peace Accords. In 1999 he was appointed Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the United Nations, where he remained until 2004.
In August 2006, following the resignation of Jorge Briz, President

President of Guatemala

The title of President of Guatemala has been the usual title of the leader of Guatemala since 1839, when that title was assumed by Mariano Rivera Paz...

 Óscar Berger

Óscar Berger

Óscar José Rafael Berger Perdomo, born on 11 August 1946 in Guatemala City, is a former President of Guatemala.-Early years:Of Belgian descent, Berger was born to an upper class family with large sugar and coffee holdings...

 appointed him Minister of Foreign Affairs, a position where he remained until the end of Berger's term on 14 January 2008. In April 2008 he was re-appointed Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the United Nations.

External links

• http://www.unhistory.org/iac_res/CV/RosenthalCV.pdf
• http://www.netamericas.net/Paginas/RosenthalWP.asp
• http://www.minex.gob.gt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1119&Itemid=53