Index Kl-Ky

Klaauw

Klasnic

Klaauw, Chris(toph Albert) van der (b. Aug. 13, 1924, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands - d. March 16, 2005, The Hague), foreign minister of the Netherlands (1977-81). He was afterwards ambassador to Belgium (1981-86) and Portugal (1986-89).

Klasnic, Waltraud, née Tschiltsch, name by adoption Mlinaritsch (b. Oct. 27, 1945, Graz, Steiermark, Austria), Landeshauptmann of Steiermark (1996-2005).

Klassen, E(lmer) T(heodore) (b. 1908, Hillsboro, Kan. - d. March 6, 1990, Palm Harbor, Fla.), U.S. postmaster general (1972-75).

J. Klaus

Klaus, Josef (b. Aug. 15, 1910, Mauthen, Kärnten, Austria - d. July 25, 2001, Vienna), chancellor of Austria (1964-70). He began his political career as Landeshauptmann of Salzburg (1949-61), then became finance minister (1961-63). As chairman (1963-70) of the centre-right Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), he governed in an uneasy coalition with the Socialist Party for two years (1964-66), but after the ÖVP won a narrow parliamentary majority in 1966, he served at the head of the country's first post-World War II single-party government (1966-70). He was notable for his financial reforms and for forging improved ties with Western European nations. He focused much of his energy on securing a free trade agreement with the European Community. This was not realized until 1972, when Austria gained associate membership status with the Community, but it was largely his sustained efforts that wore down resistance among the Socialist opposition. His frequent meetings with other members of the European Free Trade Association also helped to clear the way for Austria's inclusion. Klaus also reached a détente with Italy in 1970 over the question of South Tyrol, which has been under Italian rule since 1919, guaranteeing the linguistic and cultural rights of its German-speaking Austrian population. At the same time, Klaus maintained good relations with countries in Eastern Europe. He met Tito in Yugoslavia and through visits to Hungary and Romania helped to bring about the relaxation of the border curbs that had been in place since 1945, leading to increased trade and tourism. Klaus was criticized, though, for his unwillingness to pursue former Nazis. His chancellorship ended in 1970 when the Socialists gained a narrow electoral victory.

V. Klaus

Klaus, Václav (b. June 19, 1941, Prague), prime minister (1992-97) and president (2003- ) of the Czech Republic. He started his political career after the end of communist rule and became finance minister of Czechoslovakia in December 1989. In October 1991, he was also appointed deputy prime minister of the federation. In October 1990, he became chairman of what was then the strongest political entity in the country, the Civic Forum. After its demise in April 1991, he co-founded the Civic Democratic Party, and was its chairman from the outset until December 2002. He won the parliamentary elections with this party in 1992 and became prime minister of the Czech Republic. In this position he took part in the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia and the establishment of an independent Czech Republic (Jan. 1, 1993). As a proponent of a "market economy without adjectives," he oversaw radical economic reforms. In 1996, he successfully defended his position as prime minister in the elections to the Chamber of Deputies, but he resigned after the breakup of the government coalition in November 1997. After the early elections of 1998, which brought the Social Democrats to power, he became speaker of the Chamber of Deputies for a four-year term. In 2003 he was elected as the second president of the Czech Republic, succeeding his longtime rival Václav Havel.

Klebanov

Klebanov, Ilya (Iosifovich) (b. May 7, 1951, Leningrad, Russian S.F.S.R. [now St. Petersburg, Russia]), plenipotentiary of the president in Severo-Zapadny federal district (2003- ). He was a deputy prime minister (1999-2002) and minister of industry, science, and technology (2001-03) of Russia.

Kleffens

Kleffens, Eelco (Nicolaas) van (b. Nov. 17, 1894, Heerenveen, Friesland, Netherlands - d. June 17, 1983, Almocageme, near Sintra, Portugal), foreign minister of the Netherlands (1939-46). A career diplomat, he worked with the League of Nations and joined the Dutch foreign ministry in 1922. He was appointed foreign minister in August 1939 and retained the post after escaping to Britain following the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940. During this time, though a strong advocate of the Atlantic alliance, he defended the rights of European nations to order their own affairs under any postwar settlement. In 1946-47 he was minister without portfolio and in 1947 he was appointed ambassador to Washington and also served as the Netherlands' representative at the UN. He was president of the UN General Assembly in 1954-55. He served as ambassador to Portugal (1950-56), representative (1956-58) at NATO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and then as representative (1958-67) in London of the European Coal and Steel Community. After his retirement he went to live in Portugal.

Klein, Jacques Paul (b. 1939, Colmar, Alsace, France), UN administrator of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Srem (1996-97). He is a retired major general of the United States Air Force.

Klein, Ralph (Phillip) (b. Nov. 1, 1942, Calgary, Alberta), mayor of Calgary (1980-89) and premier of Alberta (1992-2006).

Kleindienst, Richard G(ordon) (b. Aug. 5, 1923, near Winslow, Ariz. - d. Feb. 3, 2000, Prescott, Ariz.), U.S. attorney general (1972-73). In 1953, he became the youngest member of the Arizona state House of Representatives. A member of a group of Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater's supporters known as the "Arizona Mafia," he became national director of field operations of the Goldwater for President Committee. After helping win Goldwater's nomination in 1964, he resigned from the senator's staff to mount his own campaign for the governorship of Arizona but was defeated by Democrat Sam Goddard. He resumed his political activities in 1966, when he directed John R. Williams' successful bid for the governorship. He assisted with Richard Nixon's presidential campaign in 1968, then stayed on as deputy attorney general, eventually replacing Attorney General John Mitchell, who left in 1972 to head the Committee to Re-elect the President - the organization at the heart of Watergate. He was sworn in in June 1972, just before the incident at Democratic headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington. Less than a year into his term, he resigned amid allegations that White House staffers were trying to obstruct justice in the investigation of the widening scandal. He stepped down (April 1973) along with aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman and White House counsel John Dean. Kleindienst denied any knowledge of the scandal. He never spoke to Nixon again. He pleaded guilty - an act he said he regretted - in 1974 to a misdemeanour charge for failing to fully testify at his Senate confirmation hearing about the so-called ITT affair, a major scandal that came shortly before the Watergate break-in. He was sentenced to 30 days and a $100 fine, and both were suspended.

Kleiner

Kleiner(-Schläpfer), Marianne, née Schläpfer (b. May 29, 1947, Gossau, Sankt Gallen, Switzerland), Regierender Landammann of Appenzell-Ausserrhoden (1997-2000) and acting president of the Liberal-Democratic Party of Switzerland (2004-05).

Kleinubing, Vilson Pedro (b. Sept. 9, 1944, Montenegro, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil - d. Oct. 23, 1998, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil), governor of Santa Catarina (1991-94).

Kleis

Kleist

Kleis, Birgit (b. Nov. 3, 1956), high commissioner of the Faeroe Islands (2001-05).

Kleist, (Jakob Edvard) Kuupik (b. March 31, 1958, Qullissat, Greenland), prime minister of Greenland (2009- ).

Klemencic, Vlado, byname of Vladimir Klemencic (b. July 10, 1926, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia [now in Slovenia]), finance minister of Yugoslavia (1983-86).

Kleppe, Johan (b. Sept. 29, 1928, Bjřrnskinn, Andřya, Norway), defense minister of Norway (1972-73).

Kleppe, Per (Andreas) (b. April 13, 1923, Oslo, Norway), finance minister of Norway (1973-79) and secretary-general of the European Free Trade Association (1981-88).

Klepsch, Egon (Alfred) (b. Jan. 30, 1930, Podmokly [Bodenbach], Czechoslovakia [now part of Decín, Czech Republic]), president of the European Parliament (1992-94).

Klestil

Klestil, Thomas (b. Nov. 4, 1932, Vienna - d. July 6, 2004, Vienna), president of Austria (1992-2004). He became an economic adviser to the government in 1957. His political career began in earnest in 1959 when he became a member of the Austrian delegation to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He went on to become Austria's ambassador to Washington but came back in 1966 to serve as secretary to Chancellor Josef Klaus, before returning to the United States as consul-general in Los Angeles (1969-74). In 1978 he became ambassador to the United Nations in New York, before returning to Washington in 1982. From 1987 until his nomination for the presidency by the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) in 1992, he served as secretary-general for foreign affairs - the highest-ranking diplomat in Austria's Foreign Ministry. He was elected president with 56.9% of the vote in 1992 and with 63.4% in 1998. He restored the country's credibility following revelations that predecessor Kurt Waldheim served in Germany's Nazi military. He spoke out numerous times against Austria's Nazi complicity during World War II, expressing sympathy for Holocaust victims during a visit to Israel in November 1994. He was opposed to letting the rightist Freedom Party (FPÖ) join the ÖVP in forming a coalition government in 2000; he backed off, but front-page photos of a stone-faced Klestil swearing in members of the FPÖ to government posts spoke volumes about his opposition to letting those linked to anti-foreigner and past anti-Jewish sentiment share government responsibility. He died two days before the end of his second term.

Klibi, Chedli, Arabic al-Shadhili al-Qilibi (b. Sept. 6, 1925, Tunis, Tunisia), secretary-general of the Arab League (1979-90). He was cultural affairs minister (1961-70, 1971-73, 1976-78) and information minister (1961-64, 1966-69, 1971-73, 1978-79) of Tunisia and mayor of Carthage (1963-90).

Klickovic

Klima

Klickovic, Gojko (b. March 25, 1955, Bosanska Krupa, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Yugoslavia), prime minister of the Republika Srpska (1996-98).

Klikovac, Uros (b. 1935, Bijelo Polje, near Podgorica, Yugoslavia [now in Montenegro] - d. 2004), justice minister of Yugoslavia (1994-96).

Klima, Viktor (b. June 4, 1947, Vienna), chancellor of Austria (1997-2000).

Klimmt

Klimovski

Klimmt, Reinhard (b. Aug. 16, 1942, Berlin), minister-president of the Saarland (1998-99).

Klimovski, Savo (b. June 13, 1947, Skopje, Macedonia), acting president of Macedonia (1999). He was speaker of the Sobranie (parliament) in 1998-2000.

G. Kliridis

Kliridis, Glafkos (Ioannou), also spelled Glafkos Klerides, or Glafcos Clerides (b. April 24, 1919, Nicosia), president of Cyprus (1993-2003). He was a gunner in the British Royal Air Force when his plane was shot down over Germany in 1942 during a bomber raid on Hamburg. He was taken prisoner, escaped twice, but was recaptured and remained interned until 1945. He broke ranks with his father, Ioannis Kliridis, who ran against Archbishop Makarios, the island's first president, in 1960. Kliridis managed Makarios's election campaign and became the first president of the House of Representatives after independence (1960-76). In that role, he deputized for Makarios from July to December 1974 while Makarios was exiled abroad after the Greek-led coup that provoked the Turkish invasion of the northern third of the island. His close relations with Makarios cooled when critics accused Kliridis of overstepping his authority. He founded the right-wing Democratic Rally party in 1976, leading it from strength to strength until it became the largest party in parliament. Seen as a moderate right-winger, he was worshipped by his supporters. For leftists, he was the man they loved to hate. Leftists would never forgive him for harbouring right-wingers in his party who they accused of involvement in the 1974 coup. An affable, sharp-witted politician who loves to tell jokes, he was widely regarded as the best match for Rauf Denktas, the Turkish Cypriot leader in the north, who was known as a fierce defender of his community's independence. Kliridis was a staunch supporter of the island's unity under a federal umbrella. But his administration forged closer defense ties to Greece, ordered surface-to-air missiles from Russia which Turkey strongly opposed, and built a new western military airbase.

Kliridis, Takis (b. Aug. 21, 1951, Nicosia), finance minister of Cyprus (1999-2003).

Kljusev

Kljusev, Nikola (b. Oct. 2, 1927, Stip, Macedonia - d. Jan. 16, 2008, Skopje, Macedonia), prime minister (1991-92) and defense minister (1998-2000) of Macedonia.

Klobukowski, Antony (Wladislas) (b. Sept. 23, 1855, Auxerre, Yonne, France - d. April 24, 1934, Paris), governor-general of French Indochina (1908-10); son-in-law of Paul Bert. He was also French ambassador to Belgium (1911-18).

Klose, Hans-Ulrich (b. June 14, 1937, Breslau, Germany [now Wroclaw, Poland]), first mayor of Hamburg (1974-81) and president of the Bundesrat (1979-80).

Klutse

Klutse, Kwassi (b. July 29, 1945, Agbélouvé [now in Zio prefecture], Togo), prime minister of Togo (1996-99).

Klutznick

Klutznick, Philip M(orris) (b. July 9, 1907, Kansas City, Mo. - d. Aug. 14, 1999, Chicago, Ill.), U.S. commerce secretary (1980-81). He took a job supervising slum clearance and urban renewal in Omaha, Neb., then moved on to become assistant U.S. attorney general for public lands to fulfill some of the same tasks. During World War II, Klutznick was in charge of building temporary housing for defense workers, and his hastily assembled self-contained towns housed scientists and engineers developing the atomic bomb in Oak Ridge, Tenn. In Chicago, Klutznick developed one of the early post-World War II suburbs for returning American soldiers looking for low-priced homes. He also built some of the city's most successful shopping malls, including the vertical shopping mall called Water Tower Place. A Democrat, he served in various government posts for five presidents, becoming commerce secretary in Jimmy Carter's administration in 1980. Earlier he used his financial skills to help friend and UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson in his drive for Third World redevelopment. He also served as president of the World Jewish Congress (1977-79) and in retirement cajoled his numerous contacts to raise millions of dollars for Israel.

Kmezic, Nikola (b. Dec. 7, 1919, Vrhovine, Yugoslavia [now in Croatia] - d. March 9, 2009, Belgrade, Serbia), chairman of the Executive Council of Vojvodina (1974-82). He was president of the Council of the Republic and Provinces (lower house) of the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia in 1982-84.

Knackfuss

Knackfuss, Friedrich, head of the civil administration of the German-occupied Channel Islands (1941-44).

Knazko, Milan (b. Aug. 28, 1945, Horné Plachtince, Velký Krtís district, northern Slovakia), deputy prime minister (1992-94), foreign minister (1992-93), and culture minister (1998-2002) of Slovakia.

Knight

Knight, Keith Desmond (St. Aubyn) (b. May 12, 1941, Brompton, Jamaica), foreign minister of Jamaica (2001-06).

Knoche, E(nno) Henry (b. Jan. 14, 1925, Charleston, W.Va.), acting CIA director (1977). He was appointed deputy CIA director by Pres. Gerald Ford on April 22, 1976, confirmed by the Senate on June 30, and sworn in July 7. He served in that position until Aug. 1, 1977. He was acting CIA director from George Bush's departure as CIA director on Jan. 20, 1977, until Stansfield Turner was sworn in on March 9, 1977.

Knorring, Anton (Leonard) von (b. 1853 - d. 1926), governor of Mikkeli (1905-09).

Knotek, Ivan (b. Aug. 26, 1936), prime minister of the Slovak Socialist Republic (1988-89).

Knowles

Knowles, Tony, byname of Anthony Carroll Knowles (b. Jan. 1, 1943, Tulsa, Okla.), governor of Alaska (1994-2002). He served in the Anchorage assembly in 1975-79 and was mayor of Anchorage in 1982-87. A Democrat, he first ran for governor in 1990, losing to Walter Hickel. In 1994, the Republican nomination went unopposed to Jim Campbell; Democrats picked Knowles over former lieutenant governor Steve McAlpine. Lieutenant Governor Jack Coghill, whose manoeuvrings got Hickel into the race in 1990, ran on the Alaska Independence ticket. Campbell started out with big leads and popular issue stands but squandered them with two foolish tactics. The first was a telephone poll which stated that Knowles supported gay marriage and adoption - though he had never done so. The second was an ad in which Campbell said, "I was watching the news last night and I noticed something - President Bill Clinton is tall, has a shy smile, good hair. Some women tell me he's really good-looking. And then I noticed Tony Knowles - tall, shy smile, good hair - same thing with women. But it doesn't stop there. Bill Clinton wants more environmental restrictions in Alaska. Tony Knowles says he thinks we need more environmental restrictions in Alaska. Coincidence? Or is this always the way it is when a guy's handsome and has good hair. Jim Campbell doesn't have good hair, but he says Tony Knowles is wrong." The "same thing with women" line was baseless innuendo, and shifted the focus from development, on which Campbell's stand was popular, to campaign tactics. Knowles surged to a big lead in polls but on election day won by only 41.1%-40.8%, with 13% for Coghill - a 536-vote margin after all the ballots were in. Knowles had huge leads in the bush and Juneau, but ran behind in urban areas. In 1998 he was reelected with 51% of the vote against a besmirched Republican nominee, John Lindauer, and a conservative Republican write-in, Robin Taylor, supported by the Republican Party. He unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and for governor again in 2006.

Knudsen

Knudsen, Gunnar, byname of Aanon Gunerius Knudsen (b. Sept. 19, 1848 - d. Dec. 1, 1928), finance minister (1905, 1908-10, 1919-20) and prime minister (1908-10, 1913-20) of Norway.

Kobas, Pavo (b. April 1, 1948, Vidovice [now in Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina]), governor of Bosnian Posavina (1996-98).

Kobbekaduwa, Tikiri (Banda) (b. Dec. 19, 1955), governor of Central province, Sri Lanka (2005- ).

Kobia, Samuel (b. March 20, 1947, Miathene division, Meru North district, Kenya), general secretary of the World Council of Churches (2004-09). He is an ordained minister in the Methodist Church in Kenya. He has diplomas from St. Paul's United Theological Collage in Kenya and from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. He has served as general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya and helped reorganize the Zimbabwe Christian Council after independence. He chaired peace talks for Sudan in 1991 and the following year headed Kenya's National Election Monitoring Unit. He also has written books on social and theological issues in Kenya and on the future of Africa. He was elected general secretary of the WCC on Aug. 28, 2003.

Kobozev, Pyotr Alekseyevich (b. Aug. 26, 1878 - d. Jan. 4, 1941), chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Far-Eastern Republic (1922).

Kobylkin

B. Koch

Kobylkin, Dmitry (Nikolayevich) (b. July 7, 1971, Astrakhan, Russian S.F.S.R.), governor of Yamalo-Nenets autonomous okrug (2010- ).

Koch, Bernhard (b. Jan. 16, 1949, Zihlschlacht, Thurgau, Switzerland), president of the government of Thurgau (2003-04, 2008-09).

Ed Koch

Koch, Ed(ward Irving) (b. Dec. 12, 1924, Bronx, New York City), mayor of New York City (1978-90). He entered New York City Democratic politics in 1962. Prior to his election as mayor, Koch served on the city council (1967-68) and as a member of Congress (1969-77). Known for his brash, colourful manner, he maintained his popularity despite New York's problems of unemployment, steadily declining services, and cutbacks necessitated by successful efforts to balance the city's budget. He was reelected in 1981, running as a Republican-Democratic fusion candidate, and again in 1985, overwhelming his Republican opponent. In 1982 he lost a bid for the Democratic nomination for governor. His support slipped among many minority voters, and by 1989, after 12 years of hearing Koch ask New Yorkers, "How am I doing?" the voting populace - apparently tiring of the city's problems - seemed to answer, "Not too well." On Sept. 12, 1989, he was defeated in the Democratic primary election by David Dinkins. Since leaving City Hall, he has worked, among other things, as a radio talk-show host, a newspaper columnist, and an arbitrator on TV's People's Court.

Koch, Erich (b. June 19, 1896, Elberfeld [now part of Wuppertal], Germany - d. Nov. 12, 1986, Barczewo, Poland), German Reichskommissar of the Ukraine (1941-43) and Ostland (1944). He joined the Nazi party in the early 1920s, and shortly after Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, he was appointed party leader and governor of East Prussia. Following the Nazi invasion of the U.S.S.R., he was appointed Reichskommissar of the Ukraine. At the end of the war he avoided capture by fleeing first to Denmark and later to the British zone of occupied Germany, where he lived near Hamburg under an assumed name. After his true identity was discovered in 1949, Koch was extradited to Poland by the British authorities the following year; he came to trial in Warsaw in 1958. He was said to have attempted to starve himself to death in the intervening period. He was convicted in 1959 of complicity in the killing of over 300,000 Polish people, two-thirds of them Jewish, during the war. Apart from the war crimes for which he was convicted, Koch was held responsible for the deaths of some four million people in the Ukraine and the deportation to Nazi labour camps of some two million others. The death sentence passed on him was commuted to life imprisonment through the exercise of a Polish law preventing execution of the sick, and he spent the remainder of his life in Barczewo Prison, within the territory he had once administered.

Koch (Krefft), Osvaldo (b. Dec. 30, 1896, Santiago, Chile - d. April 15, 1963, Santiago), justice minister (1928-30, 1954-55), interior minister (1953-54), and foreign minister (1955) of Chile; son-in-law of Carlos Ibáńez del Campo.

R. Koch

Koch, Roland (b. March 24, 1958, Frankfurt am Main), minister-president of Hessen (1999- ).

Koch-Weser, Erich (Friedrich Ludwig), until 1927 Erich Koch (b. Feb. 26, 1875, Bremerhaven, Germany - d. Oct. 19, 1944, Rolândia, Paraná, Brazil), interior minister (1919-21), vice chancellor (1920), and justice minister (1928-29) of Germany. He was mayor of Delmenhorst (1901-09), city director of Bremerhaven (1909-13), and mayor of Kassel (1913-19). After World War I he was a leader of the German Democratic Party and served in the Constituent National Assembly (1919-20). He was frequently a leader in attempts to bring stable government to postwar Germany. In 1925 when Pres. Paul von Hindenburg asked him to form a cabinet, he found himself hopelessly deadlocked by the Social Democrats' rejection of his platform and had to retire. He remained a member of the Reichstag until 1930, when the growing power of the National Socialists caused him to withdraw permanently. After Adolf Hitler's rise to power, he fled from Germany in 1933. A book in which he had expressed his political views had been burned by the Nazis eight days after its publication. His grandson Caio Koch-Weser (b. July 25, 1944, Rolândia) was a high-ranking official at the World Bank and in the German finance ministry; in 2000 he was the EU's candidate for the post of managing director of the International Monetary Fund, but was vetoed by the U.S.

Kocharyan

Kocharyan, Robert (Sedraki) (b. Aug. 31, 1954, Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh), president of Armenia (1998-2008). As a key leader of the self-determination movement of Nagorno-Karabakh, Kocharyan in 1989 became one of the founders of the Miatsum (Unification) non-governmental organization and served as advisor to the chairman of the Executive Committee of Nagorno-Karabakh. In 1989, he was elected deputy to the Supreme Soviet (parliament) of Armenia - the Nagorno-Karabakh representative. In 1992, he was appointed prime minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, while also heading the State Committee on Defense. Under pressure by the Azerbaijani military aggression, he organized the Nagorno-Karabakh self-defense forces, thereby established defense and security infrastructures for Nagorno-Karabakh. These defense forces achieved successive victories, securing the safety of the people and the borders of Nagorno-Karabakh. In May 1994, a cease-fire between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan was negotiated. In 1994, by an overwhelming majority, Kocharyan was elected the first president of Nagorno-Karabakh. Kocharyan's appeal that "a nation tested by the ordeals of war must pass the test of peace" marked the beginning of a large-scale social and economic rehabilitation of Nagorno-Karabakh. Under his leadership, Nagorno-Karabakh became a negotiating member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for the settlement of the conflict. He also became the first Karabakh representative to negotiate directly on behalf of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh in international forums. In 1997, he was appointed prime minister of Armenia. He tackled issues of corruption and intensified efforts to institutionalize a free market economy. In April 1998 he was elected the second president of Armenia; he was reelected in 2003.

Koda

Koda, Madhu (b. Jan. 6, 1971, Patahatu, Singhbhum district, Bihar [now in West Singhbhum district, Jharkhand], India), chief minister of Jharkhand (2006-08).

Kodera, Hiroyuki (b. Oct. 3, 1940), governor of Gunma (1991-2007).

A. Kodjo

Kodjo, (Gabriel Messan) Agbeyome (b. Oct. 12, 1954, Tokpli, Yoto prefecture, Togo), prime minister of Togo (2000-02). He was also interior minister (1992-93) and speaker of the National Assembly (1999-2000). On June 27, 2002, he was dismissed and expelled from the ruling Togolese People's Rally. In response, he fiercely criticized Pres. Gnassingbé Eyadéma and his family for corruption, embezzlement, and torture and went into exile in France. Eyadéma's government then charged Kodjo with embezzlement. Kodjo was arrested on April 8, 2005, after he sneaked into the country from neighbouring Benin. He was freed on June 8 following the cancellation of the proceedings instituted against him for breach of trust in his management of the port of Lomé. He then returned to France but in September co-founded a new opposition party, the Democratic Alliance for the Motherland.

E. Kodjo

Kodjo, Edem, byname of Edouard Kodjovi Kodjo (b. May 23, 1938, Sokodé, Tchaoudjo prefecture, northern Togo), finance minister (1973-76), foreign minister (1976-78), and prime minister (1994-96, 2005-06) of Togo and secretary-general of the Organization of African Unity (1978-83).

Koenig, (Marie) Pierre (b. Oct. 10, 1898, Caen, Calvados, France - d. Sept. 2, 1970, Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, France), French military governor of Germany (1945-49) and defense minister of France (1954, 1955).

Koerber

Koerber, Ernest von (b. Nov. 6, 1850, Trient, Austria [now Trento, Italy] - d. March 5, 1919, Baden, near Vienna, Austria), prime minister of Austria (1900-04, 1916). Entering the Austrian administration in 1874, he served as minister of commerce (1897-98) and interior (1899) before becoming prime minister in 1900 (additionally holding the portfolios of interior and, from 1902, justice). Unable to obtain a majority in parliament, he governed by emergency decrees. A popular figure, he encouraged industry and commerce and introduced laws guaranteeing individual rights. Nationality crises in Bohemia and Hungary, however, caused his fall in 1904. During World War I he served as joint Austro-Hungarian minister of finance (1915-16) and then again as Austrian prime minister; his tenure was brief though due to differences with the new emperor, Karl I.

Koern, August (b. April 27, 1900 - d. Jan. 11, 1989), foreign minister of the Estonian government in exile (1964-81).

Koffigoh

Koffigoh, Joseph Kokou (b. December 1948, Kpélé-Dafo village, near Kpalimé, Togo), prime minister (1991-94) and foreign minister (1998-2000) of Togo.

Kogalniceanu

Kogalniceanu, Mihail (Ilie) (b. Sept. 6, 1817, Iasi, Moldavia [now in Romania] - d. July 1, 1891, Paris, France), prime minister of Romania (1863-65). A lecture on national history he gave at Iasi in 1843 greatly influenced Romanian students in Paris and the 1848 generation. But in 1844 his history course was suspended and his passport was revoked during a trip to Vienna, where he was as the secret emissary of the opposition to discuss with Austrian Foreign Minister Klemens von Metternich the possible ouster of Mihai Sturza, the prince of Moldavia. He was in Western Europe in 1845-47 but in 1848 was drawn into the mainstream of Romanian nationalist politics. After he wrote several anti-Sturza pamphlets, a reward was offered for his apprehension "dead or alive," and he was forced to seek temporary refuge in Bukovina (then belonging to Austria). In exile he became the chief spokesman of the Moldavian Central Revolutionary Committee. When in 1849 Grigore Ghica was named prince of Moldavia by the sultan, Kogalniceanu and other 1848ers returned to Iasi and were installed in Ghica's administration. He became the principal leader in the movement for unification of Moldavia and Walachia, and was appointed prime minister under the first prince of united Romania, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, in 1863. He helped carry out reformist measures including the expropriation of monastic properties and the great land and social reforms of the Agrarian Law of 1864. Disagreements with the prince and the landed aristocracy, however, led to his resignation in 1865. He was elected to the Romanian Academy in 1868. He was foreign minister in 1876-80 and represented Romania at the Congress of Berlin (1878-79). Thereafter he served at the Romanian legation in Paris.

Kohan, Alberto (Antonio) (b. April 21, 1946, San Lorenzo, Santa Fe, Argentina), public health minister of Argentina (1990-91).

Kohl

Kohl, Helmut (Josef Michael) (b. April 3, 1930, Ludwigshafen [now in Rheinland-Pfalz], Germany), chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (1982-98). He was elected in 1959 to the Rheinland-Pfalz state legislature and four years later became his party's parliamentary floor leader there. He became state chairman of his party in 1966. In 1969 he became the state's minister-president and also the CDU's national deputy chairman, and in 1973 he was elected chairman of the party. He resigned from the state premiership in 1976 to devote himself to federal politics. As the chancellor candidate of the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), he lost the 1976 election to the coalition of Helmut Schmidt's Social Democratic Party and Free Democratic Party (FDP). Kohl became the CDU-CSU's parliamentary floor leader in the Bundestag. In 1982 the FDP decided to change coalition partners in midterm, and the combined forces of CDU-CSU and FDP passed a vote of no confidence against Schmidt on Oct. 1, 1982, simultaneously electing Kohl as new chancellor. The CDU-CSU-FDP coalition won early federal elections in 1983 and was reelected in 1987. After the fall of the communist government of East Germany in 1989, Kohl led the drive for German reunification. He obtained the assent of the Western allies as well as the Soviet Union, and on Oct. 3, 1990, Germany was reunified. On Dec. 2, 1990, the first free all-German elections since 1932 took place, and Kohl's coalition won a large majority. In 1994 he won the fourth time, though with a slim majority. In 1996 he surpassed Konrad Adenauer's record and became the longest-serving chancellor of the Federal Republic. He finally lost the 1998 election, whereupon he resigned as CDU chairman. His reputation was tarnished in 1999-2000 in a party financing scandal. He remained in the Bundestag until 2002.

Köhler

Köhler, Horst (b. Feb. 22, 1943, Skierbieszów, Poland), president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (1998-2000), managing director of the International Monetary Fund (2000-04), and president of Germany (2004- ).

Kohli, Amolak Rattan (b. Nov. 3, 1942), governor of Mizoram (2001-06).

Kohout

Kohout, Jan (b. March 29, 1961, Plzen, Czechoslovakia [now in Czech Republic]), foreign minister of the Czech Republic (2009- ).

Koibla, Djimasta (b. 1950 - d. Jan. 30, 2007), interior minister (1992-93) and prime minister (1995-97) of Chad.

Koinange

Koinange, (Peter) Mbiyu (b. 1907 - d. Sept. 2, 1981), foreign minister of Kenya (1966-67, 1969).

Koirala, Bishweshwar Prasad (b. Sept. 8, 1914, Benares [Varanasi], India - d. July 21, 1982, Kathmandu, Nepal), prime minister of Nepal (1959-60). He joined the Indian Congress Party, and, after India became independent, formed the Nepali National Congress. His party split, leaving him as leader of the Nepali Congress, which he led to victory in the country's first democratic election in 1959, and he became prime minister. His policy of good relations with China led to accusations of Communist sympathies. He was dismissed in 1960 when King Mahendra seized power and dissolved the government. The reason for his dismissal was that his reforms would have established Nepal as a constitutional monarchy, severely limiting the power of the king. With the help of the Army, the king overthrew the government, and Koirala was imprisoned. Under Mahendra's successor, King Birendra, he suffered further imprisonment, exile, and trial for treason. Amnestied, in 1980 he campaigned for restoration of the multiparty system, which was, however, rejected by a 55% majority in that year's referendum.

G.P. Koirala

Koirala, Girija Prasad (b. July 4, 1924, Tadi, Saharsha district, Bihar, India - d. March 20, 2010, Mandikhatar, near Kathmandu, Nepal), prime minister and defense minister (1991-94, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2006-08) and foreign minister (1991-94, 1998-99) of Nepal. Two of Koirala's elder brothers, Matrika Prasad Koirala and Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala, were prime ministers in the 1950s. Koirala founded the kingdom's first trade union movement when he organized a strike by jute mill workers in 1947. He was jailed for over seven years for fighting against the king's absolute powers. Koirala became prime minister in 1991 after his centrist Nepali Congress party, which struggled for and won multiparty democracy, was voted into power. But three years later, disputes between then Congress president Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and Koirala brought down the government. Bhattarai's supporters accused Koirala of sabotaging a parliamentary by-election contested by Bhattarai. Bhattarai lost the election and his supporters abstained during a crucial parliamentary vote. Koirala's government lost the vote and he was forced to call early elections. Koirala took over the Nepali Congress from Bhattarai in 1996 and vowed to restore the party as a major political force. He was again named prime minister in 1998, replacing a former royalist, Surya Bahadur Thapa of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP). He is regarded in the party as a staunch anti-communist and an uncompromising leader. On Feb. 1, 2005, he was placed under house arrest along with the leaders of other major parties when King Gyanendra took over the government; he was released on April 1. When street protests forced the king to end his personal rule in April 2006, Koirala was unanimously chosen to be prime minister by the seven main political parties. He was also acting head of state in 2007-08 during the transition from monarchy to republic.

Koirala, Matrika Prasad (b. Jan. 1, 1912 - d. Sept. 11, 1997, Kathmandu, Nepal), prime minister (1951-52, 1953-55) and foreign minister (1951-52) of Nepal. He was the eldest of three brothers who were prime ministers of Nepal at various times; the others were Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala and Girija Prasad Koirala. Matrika was the first ordinary Nepalese to become prime minister in 1951. Prior to this, all Nepalese prime ministers had come from the Rana family which had kept the kings virtual prisoners and were de facto rulers of Nepal. Koirala, who had also taken part in the Indian freedom struggle and was imprisoned there between 1930 and 1931, headed the Nepali Congress Party (1950-52) during its later armed struggle to end the power of the Ranas. In 1953 he founded his own party, the Rastriya Janata Parishad (National People's Council), and remained its president until his death. He was ambassador to the United States in 1961-64.

S. Koirala

Koirala, Sujata (b. Feb. 9, 1954, Biratnagar, Nepal), foreign minister of Nepal (2009- ); daughter of Girija Prasad Koirala.

Koivisto

Koivisto, Mauno (Henrik) (b. Nov. 25, 1923, Turku), finance minister (1966-67, 1972), prime minister (1968-70, 1979-82), and president (1982-94) of Finland. That Koivisto was the first Finnish president to emerge from the left seemed merely incidental. He was always remote from the grinding apparatus of his party, the Social Democrats, and he was obviously bored with simplistic "isms." Pragmatism was his guideline throughout his terms as prime minister and central bank governor (1968-82), and he was not afraid to impose draconian measures when other politicians dithered. Koivisto himself had sometimes appeared vacillating, but he could act decisively when necessary - as when his opponents used the services of his predecessor, the ailing Pres. Urho Kekkonen, in an abortive attempt to dislodge him as prime minister in April 1981. Had Koivisto quit then, he might never have become president in the election forced by Kekkonen's premature resignation, but he invoked the constitutional prerogatives bestowed on parliament. Koivisto was eager to reactivate parliament's role in the foreign policy debate. This was a departure, since Juho Kusti Paasikivi (president in 1946-56) and Kekkonen, whose personalities remained synonymous with Finland's neutral line, had exercised their responsibilities in this field to the fullest. The freer atmosphere resulting from this attempt to devolve part of the great power constitutionally bestowed on any Finnish president led to some confusion. However, there was no immediate effect on Finland's international position. Though primarily an economist, he was quick to grasp the workings of diplomacy and this, coupled with Finland's innate stability, made the change after 25 years of Kekkonen's presidency remarkably undramatic.

Koizumi

Koizumi, Junichiro (b. Jan. 8, 1942, Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture, eastern Japan), prime minister of Japan (2001-06). His grandfather and father were members of parliament. After his father died in 1969, he ran for his seat but lost by 4,000 votes. He then worked as a junior secretary to Takeo Fukuda, who later became prime minister. He prowled his father's former district and made himself known to the constituents there. His link to Fukuda helped, too, and three years after his defeat, he won the seat (1972). He became minister of health and welfare (1988-89, 1996-98) and of posts and telecommunications (1992-93). He ran for president of the Liberal-Democratic Party in 1995 and 1998 and was successful on his third attempt, in 2001, following the resignation of Yoshiro Mori, and consequently succeeded Mori as prime minister as well. He rose to the top of the party by exploiting his bad-boy image within a political organization whose rank-and-file members, like the public at large, were longing for a plain-spoken leader with charisma and a vision; Koizumi had those qualities in abundance. He stood solidly behind Prime Minister Mori in the fall of 2000 when the scandal-tainted leader was challenged by one of Koizumi's closest political allies, Koichi Kato. Later, however, he resigned from his faction in the party, decrying factional politics. Koizumi was able to combine his status as a high-ranking party insider with his sizeable public appeal, something Japan's recent prime ministers had lacked. His outspokenness and frank manner were a refreshing change from the bland vagaries of most senior politicians. He pledged to scrap political convention, appointing cabinet members based on expertise and merit rather than on which faction of the party they belong to.

Kojong

Kojong (temple name), personal name Yi Hyong, era name 1896-97 Konyang, imperial era name Kwangmu (b. Sept. 8, 1852, Seoul, Korea [now in South Korea] - d. Jan. 21, 1919, Seoul), king (1864-97) and emperor (1897-1907) of Korea. During the first years of his reign, his father Taewon-gun acted as regent and attempted to revitalize the country. Kojong's wife, Queen Min, who opposed all modernization efforts, dislodged Taewon-gun in 1873 and Kojong assumed power under the shadow of his wife. The 1882 Chemulpo Treaty with the U.S. was largely engineered by her. In 1895 she was assassinated by the Japanese. Two years later, in an effort to save the country, Kojong proclaimed himself emperor and changed the name of the country to Taehan ("Great Han"), actions symbolic of his independence from China. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, however, Japan invaded Korea and forced the emperor to sign a treaty allowing the Japanese to use the country as a military base and to place advisers in the government. After the war Japan set up a protectorate in Korea. Japan and the U.S. had signed an agreement in 1904 by which Japan agreed to accept the U.S. presence in Hawaii and the Philippines, in exchange for which Japan was given a free hand in Korea. Unaware of this agreement, Kojong sought in vain for U.S. aid under the Chemulpo Treaty. In 1907, he was forced to abdicate in favour of his son. Three years later Japan officially annexed Korea.

Kok, Adam, III (b. Oct. 16, 1811, southern Africa - d. Dec. 31, 1875, near Mzimkulu, Cape Colony [now in South Africa]), Griqua chieftain. He was appointed to the Griqua Council at an early age. When his father, Adam Kok II, died in 1835, there was a succession dispute between him and his older brother Abraham. The missionaries supported him, but Abraham had broader support in the community. In 1837 he managed to expel Abraham (who died soon after) from Philippolis and became the ruler of the Griqua nation of Dutch-speaking former slaves and Africans of mixed descent. He was friendly to the British administration in the Cape Colony and his territorial claims were recognized in an 1843 agreement with the Cape governor. But conflict arose with the Boer (Dutch) trekkers who established the Orange Free State, and Kok accepted a British offer (1861) to resettle the Griquas in the eastern section of the Cape Colony. He led his people on a long trek over the Drakensberg to found the nation of Griqualand East, where a new town, Kokstad, was built. Although he aided the British in a campaign to subdue the rebellious Hlubi tribe in Natal in 1873, they decided in October 1874 to annex his country to the Cape Colony. He died in an accident a year later.

W. Kok

Kok, Wim, byname of Willem Kok (b. Sept. 29, 1938, Bergambacht, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands), prime minister of the Netherlands (1994-2002). In 1961 he began a career of more than two decades in labour union administration. Starting as an adviser or assistant international officer for the construction workers' union, he rose to the position of staff member for economic affairs in 1965 and union secretary in 1967. In 1969 he transferred from the construction union to the executive board of the Netherlands Federation of Trade Unions, first as secretary, then as deputy chairman in 1972 and chairman from 1973 to 1985. In 1979-82 he also chaired the European Trade Union Confederation. As the top labour leader in the Netherlands, Kok was instrumental in negotiating an agreement between labour unions and employers in 1982 according to which unions would not demand pay increases of more than 2% per year, and employers in return would provide shorter work weeks and more jobs. That agreement set the model for the Dutch style of collaborative economic planning. Kok left trade union work in the mid-1980s for politics as a member of the Labour Party. He became a member of parliament and Labour Party leader in 1986. Three years later, the same year in which he was elected deputy chairman of the Socialist International, he entered the cabinet in a coalition government headed by Christian Democrat Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers. For nearly five years beginning on Nov. 7, 1989, Kok was deputy prime minister and minister of finance. When no party won a majority in May 1994 elections, Kok and his Labour Party took several months to negotiate a coalition with the Liberals and the Democrats 66. The Christian Democrats were left out of the government for the first time in their history. Kok's government was reelected in 1998.

Kokje

Kokje, Vishnu Sadashiv (b. Sept. 6, 1939, Dahi village, Dhar district [now in Madhya Pradesh], India), governor of Himachal Pradesh (2003-08).

Kokov, Valery (Mukhamedovich) (b. Oct. 18, 1941, Tyrnyauz, Kabardino-Balkariya, Russian S.F.S.R. - d. Oct. 29, 2005, Moscow), chairman of the Supreme Soviet (1990-91) and president (1992-2005) of Kabardino-Balkariya.

Kokovtsov, Vladimir Nikolayevich, (from Feb. 12, 1914) Graf (b. April 18 [April 6, O.S.], 1853, Novgorod, Russia - d. Jan. 29, 1943, Paris, France), finance minister (1904-05, 1906-14) and prime minister (1911-14) of Russia.

Kokoyev, Zurab (Revazovich), acting prime minister of South Ossetia (2005).

Kokoyty

Kokoyty, Eduard (Dzhabeyevich), Russian Eduard Kokoyev (b. Oct. 31, 1964, Tskhinvali, South Ossetian autonomous oblast, Georgian S.S.R.), president of South Ossetia (2001- ).

Kolak, Rudi (b. Nov. 4, 1918, Gornji Ribnik, near Banja Luka, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Austria-Hungary [now in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Hercegovina] - d. Dec. 22, 2004, Belgrade), chairman of the Executive Council of Bosnia and Hercegovina (1965-67). He was also vice president of the Federal Executive Council (1967-69) and president of the Economic Chamber (1969-74) of Yugoslavia.

Kolarov

Kolarov, Vasil (Petrov) (b. July 28 [July 16, O.S.], 1877, Shumen, Bulgaria - d. Jan. 23, 1950, Sofia, Bulgaria), Bulgarian politician. He joined the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party in 1897 and six years later was one of the organizers of its "narrow" or revolutionary wing. In 1913 he was elected deputy to the Bulgarian Sobranje (National Assembly), and again in 1920. When in 1919 the "narrow" Social Democrats reorganized themselves as the Bulgarian Workers' (Communist) Party, he became its secretary-general. He attended all the Comintern congresses from 1920, was elected a member of the executive committee, and, later, became secretary-general. In September 1923 he attempted, with Georgi Dimitrov, to organize a Kremlin-sponsored uprising which, however, failed; escaping to Moscow, he remained there for more than two decades, becoming a Soviet citizen. He returned to Bulgaria in September 1944. He was a member of both Sobranjes elected in November 1945 and October 1946. As provisional president of the republic (September 1946-December 1947), in November 1946 he appointed Dimitrov prime minister, and in December 1947 assumed the duties of minister of foreign affairs in the second Dimitrov cabinet. When Dimitrov died on July 2, 1949, Kolarov was neither among the few prominent Communists who went to Moscow to bring the body back to Sofia nor did he attend the burial ceremonies in the Bulgarian capital. On July 20 the Sobranje unanimously elected him prime minister and foreign minister but he was not present. On August 6 the cabinet was reconstituted and Vladimir Poptomov succeeded Kolarov as foreign minister.

Kolawolé

Kolawolé, Antoine Idji (b. 1946, Illikimou, near Kétou, Dahomey [now Benin]), foreign minister of Benin (1998-2003). He was president of the National Assembly in 2003-07. He was a presidential candidate in 2006, but won only 3.2% of the vote.

Kolélas

Kolélas, Bernard (Bakana) (b. June 12, 1933, Mboloki, Kinkala district, Pool region, Middle Congo [now Congo (Brazzaville)] - d. Nov. 12, 2009, Paris, France), Congo (Brazzaville) politician. The anti-communist opposition leader was the runner-up to Pascal Lissouba in 1992 presidential elections. His Ninja militia clashed with Lissouba loyalists in 1993-94. A Protestant Christian, he suffered jail, torture, and exile through a long career of opposition to communism in the Central African nation. Like Lissouba, a fellow southerner, he was jailed in the late 1970s. He too was freed by Denis Sassou-Nguesso but jailed again under Sassou for four years. He became mayor of Brazzaville in 1994 and planned to contest the July 1997 presidential election. When fighting between Sassou's and Lissouba's forces started in June 1997, he initially tried to broker a peaceful settlement as a national mediator but in September he accepted an offer from Lissouba to form a national unity government, in which he left portfolios open for Sassou's side. Sassou rejected his appointment. Kolélas's Ninja militia rallied to Lissouba in October. But Sassou's forces won, and Kolélas lost the premiership. Thereafter he lived in exile in various countries including Côte d'Ivoire and (from December 2003) Mali and made several attempts to return to his country. He was sentenced to death in absentia on May 4, 2000, for several crimes allegedly committed during the civil war, including torture and rape of prisoners. He eventually returned to Brazzaville on Oct. 14, 2005, for his wife's funeral after having obtained an authorization from the Congolese authorities. President Sassou-Nguesso decided to initiate an amnesty proceeding in his favour for "humanitarian reasons." Parliament voted an amnesty law overturning his death sentence on December 6.

Kolesnikov, Mikhail (Petrovich) (b. June 30, 1939, Yeysk, Krasnodar kray, Russian S.F.S.R. - d. March 26, 2007, Moscow, Russia), chief of joint staff of the armed forces (1992-96) and acting defense minister (1996) of Russia.

Kolesov

Kolesov, Nikolay (Aleksandrovich) (b. Dec. 17, 1956, Kazan, Russian S.F.S.R.), governor of Amur oblast (2007-08).

Kolettis, Ioannis (Nikolaou) (b. 1774, Sirako, Ottoman Empire [now in Greece] - d. Sept. 12, 1847, Athens, Greece), member of the Government Commission (1832-33) and prime minister (1844-47) of Greece.

Kolingba

Kolingba, André (Dieudonné) (b. Aug. 12, 1936, Bangui, Oubangui-Chari [now Central African Republic] - d. Feb. 7, 2010, Paris, France), president of the Central African Republic (1981-93); also defense minister for most of that period. Before his country became independent, he served with the French Army, notably in Indochina and in Cameroon. In terms of ethnic origin he came from the same people as Pres. Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire. He was ambassador to Canada (1975-79) and was appointed to serve in West Germany when David Dacko took over from Emperor Bokassa; he then returned to his country and was appointed chief of staff of the armed forces. On Sept. 1, 1981, General Kolingba succeeded Dacko as president. In July Dacko had promoted him to the highest military rank at a time when continuing internal unrest had forced the authorities in Bangui to proclaim a state of siege and order Kolingba to apply it strictly. He had won Dacko's confidence after playing a signal role in reorganizing the army, a task that he helped to accomplish after the collapse of the former empire of Jean-Bédel Bokassa. It was this element of trust in the relationship between the two men that, among other things, led to the belief that they were in agreement on the transfer of power that was to result in Kolingba's accession to the presidency. After the transfer a Military Committee of National Recovery was formed with Kolingba as chairman. In an interview shortly after his accession he said that, providing the necessary conditions were fulfilled, there would be a progressive return to democratic government. However he remained in power for 12 years until he allowed presidential elections in 1993 in which he was defeated. He was accused of leading a coup attempt in May 2001; he then fled to Uganda, was condemned to death in August 2002, but amnestied in April 2003. He returned on Oct. 5, 2003, to take part in a "national dialogue," during which he apologized for the errors of his government and his role in the failed coup attempt. The following month he left for France for health reasons but he returned on Feb. 27, 2005, for his presidential campaign. He finished third with 16.4% of the votes.

Kolisevski, Lazar (b. Feb. 12, 1914, Sveti Nikole, Serbia [now in Macedonia] - d. July 6, 2000, Skopje, Macedonia), Yugoslav politician. In Macedonia he was secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (1941-63), prime minister (1945-53), and president of the People's Assembly (1953-62), and, following Tito's death, he was the first president of the new rotating presidency of Yugoslavia (1980).

Kollek, Teddy, byname of Theodor Kollek (b. May 27, 1911, Nagyvázsony, Hungary - d. Jan. 2, 2007, Jerusalem), mayor of Jerusalem (1965-93).

A. Koller

Koller, Arnold (b. Aug. 29, 1933, Appenzell, Switzerland), defense minister (1987-89), justice and police minister (1989-99), and president (1990, 1997) of Switzerland.

Koller, Edwin (b. May 28, 1921, Uzwil, Sankt Gallen, Switzerland - d. Aug. 5, 2005, Oberuzwil, Sankt Gallen), Landammann of Sankt Gallen (1967-68, 1974-75, 1979-80, 1986-87).

Kollias, Konstantinos (b. 1901 - d. July 13, 1998), prime minister of Greece (1967).

Kollontay

Kollontay, Aleksandra Mikhailovna, née Domontovich (b. March 31 [March 19, Old Style], 1872, St. Petersburg, Russia - d. March 9, 1952, Moscow), Russian revolutionary. The daughter of a high officer in the Imperial Russian Army, she married a general of engineers, Vladimir Mikhailovich Kollontay. However, she abandoned her privileged social position in 1898, became affiliated with the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party, and spread revolutionary propaganda among women workers. From 1908 she lived in exile. In 1916 she visted 81 cities in the United States on a lecture tour. She returned to Russia on the outbreak of the February Revolution in 1917, and after the October Revolution she became people's commissar for social welfare, holding the post until March 24, 1918, when she resigned in protest against the Brest-Litovsk peace. In 1920 she affiliated with the Workers' Opposition, a group that demanded greater democracy within the Bolshevik party; this won her popularity among the general party membership but prompted the Central Committee to attempt her expulsion from the party. From 1922 she was effectively in exile as a diplomat, being first appointed a councillor in the commercial delegation of the Soviets in Norway, then in 1923 plenipotentiary representative of the Soviet Union, and in 1924, after the recognition of the Soviet Union by Norway, as minister to Norway, becoming the first accredited woman envoy in modern history. Later she was minister to Mexico (1926-27), to Norway again (1927-30), and to Sweden (1930-45); from 1943 she held the rank of ambassador. In 1940 she helped to end the conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland, and she carried out the negotiations for the armistice between the two countries in 1944.

Kolodko, Grzegorz (Witold) (b. Jan. 28, 1949, Tczew, Poland), finance minister of Poland (1994-97, 2002-03).

Kolokotronis, Gennaios (Theodorou) (b. 1803 - d. 1868), prime minister of Greece (1862); son of Theodoros Kolokotronis.

T. Kolokotronis

Kolokotronis, Theodoros (Konstantinou) (b. April 1770, Messenia, Ottoman Empire [now in Greece] - d. Feb. 15, 1843, Athens), Greek political leader. He served in the English army and returned to Morea (Peloponnese) on the eve of the Greek revolution. Due to his military experience and knowledge he became the leading figure in organizing the Greek fighters during the War of Independence (1821-30). He was a member of the revolutionary society Philiki Etaireia. He is most famous for his role in the defeat of Mahmud Dramali's Ottoman army in August 1822. He was imprisoned in a monastery on Hydra for defying the central government but was released in 1825 to help defend the Morea against the Egyptians under Ibrahim Pasha. Applying guerrilla tactics against them, Kolokotronis inflicted major blows to Ibrahim's army. He signed the Greek demand for British protection and invited Sir Richard Church to be Greek commander-in-chief. In 1828 he supported the president, Count Ioannis Kapodistrias, and became one of the leaders of the pro-Russian party. After the count's assassination on Oct. 9, 1831, Kolokotronis set up a rival administration favouring 17-year-old Prince Otto of Bavaria for the newly created Greek throne, and he later tried to overthrow the young king's regency, composed largely of Bavarians. For this, Kolokotronis was condemned to death on June 7, 1834. The king commuted the sentence to 10 years in prison, and in 1835 he was fully reprieved.

Kololo, Jean-Blaise (b. 1952? - d. April 28, 1999, Kinshasa, Congo), foreign minister of Congo (Brazzaville) (1991-92).

Kolone

Kolstad

Kolone, (Afioga) Va'ai (b. Nov. 11, 1911, Vaisala, Samoa - d. April 20, 2001, Apia, Samoa), prime minister and foreign minister of Western Samoa (1982, 1985-88). One of the founders of the Human Rights Protection Party, he entered parliament in 1967.

Kolstad, Peder Ludvik (b. Nov. 28, 1878, Borge, Řstfold, Norway - d. March 5, 1932), prime minister of Norway (1931-32).

Komara

Komara, Kabiné (b. March 8, 1950), prime minister of Guinea (2009-10).

Komarov, Yevgeny (Borisovich) (b. April 10, 1942), head of the administration of Murmansk oblast (1991-96).

Komarova

Kombo Yaya

Komarova, Natalya (Vladimirovna) (b. Oct. 21, 1955, Pskov oblast, Russian S.F.S.R.), governor of Khanty-Mansi autonomous okrug (2010- ).

Komarovsky, Yury (Vladimirovich) (b. July 18, 1952), head of the administration of Nenets autonomous okrug (1991-96).

Kombo Yaya, Dieudonné, foreign minister of the Central African Republic (2008-09).

Kombot-N.

Kombot-Naguemon, Nestor (b. Nov. 14, 1934, Yaoundé, Cameroon - d. Oct. 26, 2004, Paris, France), foreign minister of the Central African Republic (1969-70). He served as a minister and an ambassador several times, under all leaders from Jean-Bédel Bokassa to François Bozizé. He was minister of information (1968), development (1968-69), and development and tourism (1969) and minister of state for foreign affairs and international cooperation (1970) and for relations with parliament (1994-96). He was ambassador to Japan and South Korea (1972-74), the Benelux countries (also permanent representative to the EEC; 1974-80), Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea (1980-82), and West Germany and Austria (1984-89). He was also head of the Liberal Democratic Party, a small party which backed Ange-Félix Patassé after he became president in 1993. Kombot-Naguemon, who was ambassador to France since 2001 and to Italy since 2002, committed suicide by throwing himself from the 6th floor of his Parisian residence.

Komo, Dauda (Musa), administrator of Rivers (1993-96).

Komorowski, Bronislaw (Maria) (b. June 4, 1952, Oborniki Slaskie, Poland), defense minister (2000-01) and acting president (2010- ) of Poland. He has been marshal of the Sejm from 2007.

Komproe

Komproe, Ben, byname of Bernhard Komproe (b. Oct. 22, 1942, Curaçao - d. Oct. 11, 2004, Willemstad, Curaçao), prime minister of the Netherlands Antilles (2003). He headed the first government led by the FOL party, whose leader Anthony Godett could not become prime minister because he was under investigation and Komproe held the fort for a while until Anthony's sister Mirna Louisa-Godett took over. Komproe then became justice minister (August 2003). Opposition claims that he acted illegally in allowing a convicted FOL member, Nelson Monte, to stay in a first-class wing of a hospital rather than be jailed led to his resignation in April 2004 and the fall of the Louisa-Godett government. He was arrested on Sept. 6, 2004, on suspicions of fraud, professional corruption, and participation in a criminal organization. He allegedly gave a residence permit to dozens of Dominican Republic and Colombian prostitutes working in the open-air brothel Campo Alegre, in exchange receiving funds for the FOL from Campo Alegre owner Giovanni van Ierland. While detained, he fell ill, and after an emergency operation remained unconscious until his death.

Komsic

Komsic, Zeljko (b. Jan. 20, 1964, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina), chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Hercegovina (2007-08, 2009-10).

Komura

Komura, Masahiko (b. March 3, 1942, Yamaguchi prefecture, western Honshu, Japan), foreign minister of Japan (1998-99, 2007-08). He followed in family footsteps as a politician, "inheriting" his constituency from his father. Running under the slogan "Fresh and Clean," he first won election to the more-powerful lower house of parliament in 1980 and quickly became known as an expert on commerce and defense issues. During a long government career, Komura headed the Economic Planning Agency and was deputy minister at the defense, finance, and foreign ministries. In the Foreign Ministry's number two post, he was one of the key players in brokering a Cambodian peace plan that allowed Prince Norodom Ranariddh to return to the country and contest July 1998 elections, and he visited Iran and Pakistan earlier that year on diplomatic missions. In July 1998 he was named foreign minister, taking up the post that had been held by Keizo Obuchi, who became prime minister. Later he became justice minister (2000-01), defense minister (2007), then again foreign minister.

Konaré

Konaré, Alpha Oumar (b. Feb. 2, 1946, Kayes, Mali), president of Mali (1992-2002) and chairman of the Commission of the African Union (2003-08).

Konaté, Tiéoulé (Mamadou) (b. Feb. 21, 1933, Bamako, French Sudan [now Mali] - d. [car crash] Oct. 27, 1995, between Markala and Niono, southwestern Mali), secretary-general of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (1976-79). He was a presidential candidate in Mali in 1992; he received 31% of the vote against 69% for Alpha Oumar Konaré in the second round.

Konde Vila Kikanda, (Désiré) Bonaventure, governor of Kasaď Occidental (1978-80), Kasaď Oriental (1985), and Katanga (1990-91).

Kondratenko, Nikolay (Ignatovich) (b. Feb. 16, 1940), head of the administration of Krasnodar kray (1997-2001). One of Russia's most notorious antisemites, he was well known for publicly accusing Jews of everything from destroying the U.S.S.R. to "inventing" homosexuality.

Kondratyev, Aleksandr (Andreyevich), head of the administration of Penza oblast (1991-93).

Kondylis

Kondylis, Georgios (Themistokleous) (b. 1879, Proussos, Greece - d. Jan. 31, 1936, Athens, Greece), prime minister of Greece (1926, 1935). He began his military career in 1896, joining the Cretan insurgents who were in arms against Turkish rule. Later he fought in both Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, in Macedonia during World War I, and in Asia Minor in the Greek-Turkish war. Promoted to general in 1922, he resigned from the army in July 1923 to be a candidate for parliament, but when a royalist revolt broke out in October 1923 he was asked to take command of a division of troops loyal to the revolutionary government. He won the nickname "Thunderbolt" for his effectiveness in suppressing the revolt. He helped to depose King George II, formed his own party, the National Republicans, and served as minister of war (1924) and minister of the interior (1924-25). In August 1926 he overthrew the military dictator Theodoros Pangalos in a bloodless coup d'état and became prime minister; to the surprise of many he handed over the administration after the elections of November to Alexandros Zaimis, dissolved his party, and retired from politics. But in May 1927 he called his National Republicans together again and reentered politics. He served as minister of war in the governments of Panagis Tsaldaris (1932-33, 1933-35) and suppressed a revolt initiated at Salonika by Eleftherios Venizelos in March 1935. Kondylis then announced that the republic had failed and advocated the restoration of the monarchy. In a coup in October he made himself prime minister and regent and he effected the king's return on November 25. He had hoped to remain prime minister but as George II intended to rule as a constitutional monarch with a neutral cabinet, Kondylis was forced to resign.

Koné, Jean-Marie (b. 1913, Sikasso, French Sudan [now Mali] - d. May 15, 1988, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire), prime minister (1957-59) and foreign minister (1968-69) of Mali.

Koné, (René) Lompolo (b. 1921, Tengrela, southwestern Upper Volta [now Burkina Faso] - d. June 2, 1974, Ouagadougou, Upper Volta), foreign minister of Upper Volta (1960-66).

Konelious, Michael M. (b. 1946?), Marshall Islands politician. He served as secretary of finance and secretary of resources and development. In 2000 the first-term senator from Maloelap Atoll became minister of finance.

Konev, Ivan (Stepanovich) (b. Dec. 28, 1897, Lodeyno, Vyatka guberniya [now Kirov oblast], Russia - d. May 21, 1973, Moscow), Soviet high commissioner of Austria (1945-46) and commander-in-chief of the Warsaw Treaty Organization (1955-60).

Kong Geng

Kong Geng (b. 1876, Xishui, Hubei, China - d. February 1950, Wuchang [now part of Wuhan], Hubei), civil governor of Hubei (1927). He studied abroad in the Japanese College of Army Commanders in 1908, when he joined the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance. After his return, he started to serve in the Shanxi Provincial Army, being a chief of staff and a brigade commander. He was sent to his home province of Hubei in 1921, serving as a delegate of Sun Yat-sen's southern government. He began holding his top posts in Hubei from 1927, when the Kuomintang army took over Wuhan, the capital of the province, serving as head of the Construction Bureau as well as civil governor. He became a member of the Legislative Yuan (parliament) during the war against the Japanese. Believing in his "fate," he refused to go to Taiwan in 1949 and stayed on the mainland.

Kong Korm (b. April 6, 1941), foreign minister of Cambodia (1986-87).

Kong Xiangxi

Kong Xiangxi (b. 1880, Taigu, Shanxi, China - d. Aug. 15, 1967, New York City), preimer of China (1938-39). He ran business in his family's private bank until 1901, when he was sent to the U.S. to study. He became an adviser of Shanxi governor Yan Xishan after the revolution in 1911. In 1924 he moved to the south and was named finance minister. He later took up the enterprise ministry in the National Government of Wuhan (led by Wang Jingwei) in 1927. After the Wuhan government was incorporated into the one in Nanjing, he continued his career as cabinet minister. He was also the president of the Central Bank as well as the Bank of China. He stayed in the U.S. after his trip there to apply for loans in 1948.

Konjanovski, Zoran (b. March 3, 1967, Bitola, Macedonia), defense minister of Macedonia (2008- ).

Konjicija, Abdulah (b. 1928, Fojnica [now in Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina] - d. Jan. 18, 2004, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina), acting chairman of the Assembly of Bosnia and Hercegovina (1992).

Kono

Kono, Yohei (b. Jan. 15, 1937, Kanagawa prefecture), foreign minister of Japan (1994-96, 1999-2001). He was speaker of the House of Representatives in 2003-09.

Konoe

Konoe, Fumimaro, in full Koshaku (Duke, or Prince) Fumimaro Konoe, Konoe also spelled Konoye (b. Oct. 12, 1891, Tokyo - d. Dec. 16, 1945, Tokyo), prime minister of Japan (1937-39, 1940-41). He was born into the Fujiwara family that had been connected with the imperial house since the dawn of modern Japanese history (the name Konoe itself means "imperial guard"). By virtue of his rank as prince he entered the House of Peers, the upper house of the Diet, and became its vice president in 1931 and president in 1933. He opposed Fascism and the interference of the army in foreign affairs. He declined to form a cabinet when asked to by the emperor in 1936, but in June 1937 he agreed to form a nonparty cabinet. In July Chinese and Japanese forces clashed near Beiping (Beijing) and a vast campaign of aggression ensued, not led by Konoe but by the army taking things into its own hands. His cabinet fell in January 1939. He was appointed head of the Privy Council and was given a cabinet post in the Kiichiro Hiranuma cabinet. In June 1940 he was called back to form his second cabinet. During his tenure, in September 1940, Japan entered a military alliance with Germany and Italy. In October 1941 he resigned over differences with the army minister, Hideki Tojo, who succeeded him as prime minister and widened the war with the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. In 1944 Konoe cooperated with other leading political figures to bring about the collapse of the Tojo cabinet. After the war, in 1945, he became deputy minister of national affairs in the Naruhiko Higashikuni cabinet. Later that year he was served with an arrest warrant by the occupation army on suspicion of being a war criminal, and on the day he was to report, he took his life with poison.

Konovalov

Konovalov, Aleksandr (Vladimirovich) (b. June 9, 1968, Leningrad, Russian S.F.S.R. [now St. Petersburg, Russia]), plenipotentiary of the president in Privolzhsky federal district (2005- ). In 2008 he became justice minister of Russia.

Konstantinos

Konstantinos II (b. June 2, 1940, Psikhiko, near Athens), king of Greece (1964-73). The son of Crown Prince Pavlos and Princess Frederika, he spent World War II in exile in South Africa and returned to Greece in 1946. When his father became king in 1947, Konstantinos became crown prince and he succeeded to the throne upon Pavlos' death on March 6, 1964. In July 1965 he clashed with Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou over control of the armed forces; he eased Papandreou out of power and appointed interim premiers until April 21, 1967, when a military coup forestalled the election he was planning for May of that year. He attempted a counter-coup from northern Greece on Dec. 13, 1967, but had few sympathizers and almost immediately fled to Rome with his family. The military regime at first retained the monarchy and appointed a regent in Konstantinos' place, granting the king a free return if he so desired. On June 1, 1973, however, the regime proclaimed a republic. This was confirmed in a referendum on July 29, 1973. After the election of a civilian government in November 1974, another referendum on the monarchy was conducted on December 8. The monarchy was rejected by a majority of about two to one, and Konstantinos, who had protested the vote of 1973, accepted the result. Married since Sept. 18, 1964, to Anne-Marie (b. Aug. 30, 1946, Copenhagen), daughter of King Frederik IX of Denmark, their children are Alexia (b. July 10, 1965, Mon Repos, Corfu, Greece), Pavlos (b. May 20, 1967, Athens), Nikolaos (b. Oct. 1, 1969, Rome), Theodora (b. June 9, 1983, London), and Philippos (b. April 26, 1986, London). He now lives in London.

Konstantynov

Konstantynov, Volodymyr (Andriyovych) (b. Nov. 19, 1956, Moldavian S.S.R.), chairman of parliament of the Crimea (2010- ).

Konthi Suphamongkhon (b. Aug. 3, 1916), secretary-general of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (1964-65). He was also Thailand's ambassador to Australia (1956-59), New Zealand (1956-59), West Germany (1965-70), Finland (1967-70), and the U.K. (1970-76).

Kontic, Radoje (b. May 31, 1937, Niksic, Montenegro), chairman of the Executive Council of Montenegro (1989-91) and prime minister of Yugoslavia (1993-98).

Konuk, (Osman) Nejat (b. 1928, Nicosia, Cyprus), prime minister of North Cyprus (1976-78). He was president of the Legislative Assembly in 1981 and 1982-83.

Konwar

Konwar, Devanand, governor of Bihar (2009- ) and West Bengal (2009-10).

Kooijmans, Pieter (Hendrik) (b. July 6, 1933, Heemstede, Noord-Holland, Netherlands), foreign minister of the Netherlands (1993-94). In 1997 he became a judge of the International Court of Justice.

Kook

Kook, Hillel (b. 1915, Lithuania - d. Aug. 18, 2001, Kfar Shmaryahu, near Tel Aviv, Israel), Jewish militia leader. He immigrated with his family to Palestine in 1925, joining his uncle Abraham Isaac Kook, who became the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel. After a brief spell in the Haganah underground, the forerunner of the Israeli army, Kook joined the more radical Irgun militia, fighting local Arabs and the forces of Britain, which ruled at the time under a mandate of the League of Nations. In 1937 he was sent on behalf of the Revisionist movement to Poland to help smuggle Jews to Palestine. There he adopted the name Peter Bergson. As Bergson he traveled to the United States in 1940, initially to help Revisionist leader Zeev Jabotinsky's efforts to raise funds for the formation of a Jewish army to fight the Nazis. Later Kook shifted focus and launched a campaign in the U.S. to publicize the Nazi extermination of Europe's Jews. About 6 million Jews were killed in the Nazi Holocaust. He returned home when Israel declared independence in 1948 and was arrested by the new government for his Irgun activities. He was soon released and became a member of Israel's first parliament. Disillusioned by squabbles within the right and by the state's hostility to Irgun veterans, he returned to the United States, where he built a successful financial career. He came back to Israel on his retirement in 1970.

Koolman

Koolman, Olindo (b. 1942), governor of Aruba (1992-2004).

Kopin

Kopin, Roman (Valentinovich) (b. March 5, 1974, Kostroma, Russian S.F.S.R.), governor of Chukotka autonomous okrug (2008- ).

Köprülü, (Mehmet) Fuat (b. Dec. 5, 1890, Constantinople [now Istanbul] - d. June 28, 1966, Istanbul), foreign minister of Turkey (1950-55, 1955-56).

Korah, Lucky Harry (b. May 24, 1952, Makassar, Sulawesi [now in Sulawesi Selatan], Indonesia), acting governor of Sulawesi Utara (2005).

Korbonski, Stefan (b. March 2, 1901, Praszka, Poland - d. April 23, 1989, Washington, D.C.), Polish politician. He became a member of the underground government of Poland during World War II and was chief of civil resistance against the Germans from 1941 to 1944. He took part in the preparations for the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. For him and his colleagues, the rising represented a way of gaining control of Warsaw ahead of the Soviets and thereby creating "a fait accompli for the postwar status of a liberated Poland." When the rising was crushed by the Germans, the Soviets did not help the insurgents. In March 1945, after the Soviets arrested the underground government's delegate among other underground leaders, Korbonski became acting government's delegate. He was himself arrested a few weeks later but subsequently released. In early 1947, he was elected chairman of the Warsaw district of the Polish Peasant Party. He became a member of parliament, but later that year, when the Communists gained firm control of Poland, he feared renewed arrest, fled to Sweden, and then moved to the United States. He was several times chairman of the Assembly of Captive European Nations.

Korcák

Korcák, Josef (b. Dec. 17, 1921, Holstejn, Blansko district, Czechoslovakia [now in Czech Republic] - d. Oct. 5, 2008), prime minister of the Czech Socialist Republic (1970-87).

Kordan, Ali (b. November 1958, near Sari, northern Iran - d. Nov. 22, 2009, Tehran, Iran), interior minister of Iran (2008).

Koren, Petter Mřrch (b. Jan. 22, 1910, Edinburgh, Scotland - d. Nov. 14, 2004), justice minister of Norway (1963, 1972-73) and governor of Oslo and Akershus (1965-79).

Körner

Körner, Theodor, title before 1919 Edler von Siegringen (b. April 24, 1873, Komárom, Hungary - d. Jan. 4, 1957, Vienna), president of Austria (1951-57). He followed his father, a captain in the artillery, into the Austro-Hungarian Army. A colonel at the outbreak of World War I, he was appointed chief of staff of the Austrian forces fighting on the Isonzo front in May 1915 and successfully helped to stem Italian offensives along the Italian-Slovenian border. After the war he was appointed inspector general of the new republican army and was largely responsible for its organization. In 1924 he retired and joined the Social Democratic Party. He was a member of the Vienna municipal assembly and a member of the Bundesrat, the upper house of the federal parliament, between 1925 and 1934; he was chairman of the Bundesrat in 1933-34, the last before Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss dissolved the chamber. He was also military adviser for the Schutzbund, a Socialist paramilitary organization. Despite the increasingly rightward drift of Austrian politics in the early 1930s, he steadily counseled against violent action. He was nonetheless imprisoned for his Schutzbund activities in 1934. On his release he retired from public life, resisting Nazi offers to re-enter military service after the Anschluss of 1938. At the end of World War II, he was appointed mayor of Vienna by the Soviet occupation authorities. In May 1951 he was elected president of the second Austrian republic, defeating the People's Party candidate Heinrich Gleissner. He died in office.

Kornily, secular name Konstantin Titov (b. Aug. 1, 1947, Orekhovo-Zuyevo, Moscow oblast, Russian S.F.S.R.), metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, head of the Russian Orthodox Old Believers Church (2005- ). He became bishop of Kazan and Vyatka on May 8, 2005.

Korniyets

Korniyets, Leonid Romanovich (Russian), Ukrainian Leonid Romanovych Korniyets (b. Aug. 21, 1901, Bobrinets, Yelizavetgrad district, Kherson province, Russia [now Bobrynets, Kirovograd oblast, Ukraine] - d. May 29, 1969, Moscow), chairman of the Central Executive Committee (1938) and of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1938-39) and chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1939-44) of the Ukrainian S.S.R.

Korolev, Oleg (Petrovich) (b. Feb. 23, 1952), head of the administration of Lipetsk oblast (1998- ).

Koroma, Abdul Karim (b. Sept. 25, 1944, Mabonto, Tonkolili district, Sierra Leone), foreign minister of Sierra Leone (1985-91). He was education minister in 1977-82.

E.B. Koroma

Koroma, Ernest Bai (b. Oct. 2, 1953, Makeni, northern Sierra Leone), president of Sierra Leone (2007- ).

J.P. Koroma

Koroma, Johnny Paul (b. May 9, 1960, Tombodu, Kono district, eastern Sierra Leone - d. c. June 1, 2003, Foya Kamala, Lofa county, Liberia), Sierra Leonean coup leader. He received military training in Nigeria and in Britain. He was a northern Limba, the same ethnic group as former president Joseph Saidu Momoh. Koroma was arrested in 1996 in western Sierra Leone (where he was commanding troops deployed to deter rebel attacks), in connection with an alleged coup attempt in September of that year, in which Pres. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was to have been killed. Koroma was in jail on treason charges until soldiers stormed Freetown's Pademba Road prison on May 25, 1997. By the end of the day he had gone on state radio to present himself as head of state and leader of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and demand the return of rebel leader Foday Sankoh to join the government. Many northerners resented what they saw as domination of the civilian government by southern Mendes like Kabbah. The army was also angered by Kabbah's reliance on civilian Kamajor militias to protect mining areas in the southeast. In his first radio broadcast, Koroma said he had seized power because the government had failed to consolidate a peace deal with Sankoh's rebels and the political situation had been nurturing tribal conflict. In February 1998, he was ousted by forces of the Economic Community of West African States. On Jan. 19, 2003, he was declared a wanted man, being linked to a "conspiracy to destabilize the security situation of the country." On March 10 he was indicted in absentia for war crimes and crimes against humanity by a UN-backed court. He sought refuge in neighbouring Liberia, where he was reportedly killed either by his own men or by Liberian rebel forces.

Koroma, Sorie Ibrahim (b. Jan. 30, 1930, Port Loko, Maforki chiefdom [now Port Loko district], Sierra Leone - d. ...), prime minister (1971-75), interior minister (1971-73, 1981-82), finance minister (1975-78), vice president (1971-78), and first vice president (1978-85) of Sierra Leone.

Korotchenko

Korotchenko, Demyan Sergeyevich (Russian), Ukrainian Demyan Serhiyovych Korotchenko (b. Nov. 10 [Oct. 29, O.S.], 1894, Pogribky village, Novgorod-Siversky district, Chernigov province, Russia [now Korotchenkove, Shostka district, Sumy oblast, Ukraine] - d. April 7, 1969, Kiev), chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1938-39) and of the Council of Ministers (1947-54) and chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1954-69) of the Ukrainian S.S.R.

Korotkov, Leonid (Viktorovich) (b. Jan. 10, 1965), governor of Amur oblast (2001-07).

Korowi, Sir Wiwa (b. July 7, 1948, Komali village, Papua [now in Southern Highlands province, Papua New Guinea]), governor-general of Papua New Guinea (1991-97); knighted 1991.

Korshunov, Lev (Aleksandrovich) (b. Feb. 13, 1946), head of the administration of Altay kray (1994-96).

Korth, Fred(erick Herman) (b. Sept. 9, 1909 - d. Sept. 14, 1998), U.S. secretary of the Navy (1962-63). He joined the military in World War II and was discharged after the war as a lieutenant colonel. Pres. Harry Truman later appointed him assistant secretary of the Army (1952-53). Under Pres. John F. Kennedy, he became the secretary of the Navy. In a 1966 El Paso Times article, Korth was described as becoming "a hero to the Navy in 1963 when he resigned his cabinet post in protest over a top-level Pentagon decision against buying atomic engines for a new aircraft carrier."

Kortmann, Constant(inus Nicolaas Maria) (b. July 12, 1908, Weert, Limburg, Netherlands - d. Dec. 14, 1997, Mook, Limburg, Netherlands), queen's commissioner of Noord-Brabant (1959-73).

Korutürk

Korutürk, Fahri (Sabit) (b. Aug. 3, 1903, Istanbul, Turkey - d. Oct. 12, 1987, Istanbul), president of Turkey (1973-80). A career naval officer, he was appointed to the intelligence department of the general staff in 1934 and served as military attaché in Berlin (1935), Rome (1936), and Berlin and Stockholm (1942-43). He subsequently held various executive commands and became commander of the Navy and a full admiral in 1957. Retired after the military coup of May 1960, Korutürk served as Turkey's ambassador to Moscow (1960-64) and to Madrid (1964-65). He was in Parliament as an independent senator from 1968. He attained the presidency as a compromise candidate following 14 inconclusive ballots in which no contestant had gained the necessary majority. Following the expiration of his term of office in 1980, Parliament failed to elect a successor; there were fresh political disturbances and, five months later, another military coup.

Korvald

Korvald, Lars (b. April 29, 1916, Nedre Eiker, Buskerud county, Norway - d. July 4, 2006), prime minister of Norway (1972-73) and governor of Řstfold (1981-86). He served in the Storting (parliament) from 1961 to 1981 and was president of the Lagting (upper house) in 1969-72. He was chairman of the Christian People's Party in 1967-75 and 1977-79. He became the first Christian Democratic prime minister of Norway when he formed a three-party minority coalition in 1972; his government resigned when the opposition socialists won a majority in the 1973 parliamentary elections.

Koschnick, Hans (Karl-Heinrich) (b. April 2, 1929, Bremen, Germany), mayor of Bremen (1967-85) and president of the Bundesrat (1970-71, 1981-82).

Kosciuszko

Kosciuszko, Tadeusz (Andrzej Bonawentura), English Thaddeus Kosciusko (b. Feb. 4, 1746, Mereczowszczyzna, Poland [now in Belarus] - d. Oct. 15, 1817, Solothurn, Switzerland), Polish revolutionary. In 1776 he went to America, where he joined the colonial forces fighting for independence from the British. At the end of the war he was given U.S. citizenship and was made a brigadier general in the U.S. Army. In 1784 he returned to Poland. In 1792 Russia invaded Poland in an attempt to end Polish internal reforms designed to liberate the nation from Russian influence. In the ensuing war he rose to fame as a division commander during the bloody Battle of Dubienka (July 18). For this he was raised to the rank of general lieutenant by King Stanislaw II August Poniatowski, and the new revolutionary government in Paris granted him honorary French citizenship. But, when the Polish king, fearing defeat, defected from the liberal cause, Kosciuszko prepared to resume fighting. An uprising was started on March 12, 1794, and he arrived in Cracow on March 24 and, amid an enormous assembly of people, solemnly swore an act of national uprising against the occupying powers - chiefly Russia and Prussia. Undertaking all political responsibility and military leadership, he set up an insurgent administration and military force. The defense of Warsaw, besieged by Prussian and Russian armies for about two months, remains his greatest military success. He suffered his greatest defeat at Maciejowice, where he was wounded and taken prisoner. Without its leader, the uprising collapsed, and the Third Partition of Poland ended the existence of the country. Kosciuszko was imprisoned in the Peter-Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg until 1796 and then remained in exile.

Koshiyari

Kosor

Koshiyari, Bhagat Singh (b. June 17, 1942, Almora [now in Uttarakhand], India), chief minister of Uttaranchal (2001-02).

Koshman, Nikolay (Pavlovich) (b. April 5, 1944, Mironovka village, Kirovograd oblast, Ukrainian S.S.R.), prime minister (1996) and representative of the federal government (1999-2000) of Chechnya.

Kosor, Jadranka (b. July 1, 1953, Pakrac, Croatia), prime minister of Croatia (2009- ).

Kossuth

Kossuth (de Kossuthfalva), Lajos (b. Sept. 19, 1802, Monok, Zemplén county, Hungary - d. March 20, 1894, Turin, Italy), prime minister (1848-49) and governor-president (1849) of Hungary. In 1832 he was sent to the Diet of Pozsony (now Bratislava) as the proxy of a magnate, thus having a deliberative voice but no vote. At this time a struggle to reassert Hungarian national identity began to emerge. The publication of the debates of the Diet was severely restricted, but Kossuth issued letters combining extracts from the debates with his own comments. After the government attempted in vain to suppress the letters, he was finally arrested in May 1837 and brought to trial for treason. This caused an outburst of indignation, his cause was taken up throughout Europe, and he was released in 1840. He became editor of the Pesti Hirlap, which became the regular organ of the liberals. At the election of 1847 he was chosen for Pest, and through his eloquence established himself as the leader of the liberals. When the news came of the French revolution of 1848, he seized the opportunity and prepared an address to Emperor Ferdinand, calling for an independent Hungarian government. Soon afterwards there was an insurrection in Vienna, and Kossuth followed up the news with a departure for Vienna, his address in hand, where he was received with the honours of a liberator. His demands were granted, and one of his companions, Lajos Batthyány, formed a Hungarian ministry with Kossuth as finance minister. When a Croat army invaded Hungary in September, Batthyány resigned and Kossuth became virtual dictator. In April 1849 the Diet proclaimed the dethronement of the Habsburgs and elected Kossuth governor-president of Hungary, but the arrival of Russian armies forced him to resign in August and go into exile.

Koster

Koster, Bruno (b. Sept. 11, 1958), Regierender Landammann of Appenzell-Innerrhoden (2002-04, 2006-08).

Kostic, Branko (b. Aug. 28, 1939, Rvasi, Montenegro), president of the Presidency of Montenegro (1989-90) and acting president of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1991-92).

Kostic, Petar (b. May 28, 1928, Suvodol, near Smederevo, Yugoslavia [now in Serbia]), finance minister of Yugoslavia (1978-82).

H. Kostov

I. Kostov

Kostov, Hari (b. Nov. 13, 1959, Pisnica village, near Probistip, northeastern Macedonia), interior minister (2002-04) and prime minister (2004) of Macedonia.

Kostov, Ivan (Yordanov) (b. Dec. 23, 1949, Sofia), finance minister (1990-92) and prime minister (1997-2001) of Bulgaria.

Kostres, Bojan (b. Aug. 25, 1974, Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, Serbia), president of the Assembly of Vojvodina (2004-08).

Kostunica

Kostunica, Vojislav (b. March 24, 1944, Belgrade, Serbia), president of Yugoslavia (2000-03) and prime minister of Serbia (2004-08). Never a member of the Communist party, he founded, with opposition leader Zoran Djindjic, the Democratic Party in 1989. After a split in the party, the moderate nationalist founded the Democratic Party of Serbia in December 1992. He was a member of the Serbian parliament from 1990 to 1997. Although he opposed the policies of Pres. Slobodan Milosevic, Kostunica denounced NATO for its bombing of Serbia in 1999 and criticized the international tribunal at The Hague, which had indicted Milosevic and other Serbian leaders for war crimes, as an instrument of U.S. foreign policy. He was considered to be one of the few Serbian politicians whose past was not marred with financial scandals or links with Milosevic's regime. He won the Sept. 24, 2000, presidential elections as candidate of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) alliance. Milosevic was initially unwilling to accept defeat, but as it became clear that he was being abandoned by government agencies, including the police, he announced on October 6 that he would step down. Upon taking office (October 7), Kostunica rejected vindictive moves against Milosevic and his supporters. On October 16 his government reached a power-sharing agreement with Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia, which would continue to control that republic's parliament until elections were held on December 23. When the Yugoslav federation was set to be replaced by a looser union he chose to run for the presidency of Serbia rather than of the new union; he won the vote in 2002 but the turnout was too low. Instead he became prime minister in 2004, in a government backed by the Socialist Party.

Kosumi

Kosumi, Bajram (b. March 20, 1960, Tuxhec, Kamenica municipality, eastern Kosovo), prime minister of Kosovo (2005-06).

Kosyachenko, Grigory (Petrovich) (b. Jan. 6, 1901 [Dec. 24, 1900, O.S.] - d. 1983), chairman of the State Planning Committee of the Soviet Union (1953).

Kosygin

Kosygin, Aleksey (Nikolayevich) (b. March 5 [Feb. 21, O.S.], 1904, St. Petersburg, Russia - d. Dec. 18, 1980, Moscow, U.S.S.R.), premier of the Soviet Union (1964-80). He volunteered for the Red Army in 1919 and served two years in the Russian Civil War. He joined the Communist Party in 1927. In 1938 he was designated mayor of Leningrad and in 1939 he moved into the cabinet as people's commissar for the textile industry and became a member of the party's Central Committee. From 1940 to 1953 he was deputy chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (called Council of Ministers after 1946). In 1943-46 he was premier of the Russian S.F.S.R. He next served as finance minister (1948) and as minister for light industry (1948-53). He became an alternate member of the Politburo in 1946 and a full member in 1948. He was demoted to an alternate member when the Politburo was reorganized as the Presidium in 1952. After Iosif Stalin died (March 1953), he lost his position on the Presidium completely and was temporarily removed from his government post. Reinstated as deputy premier in December 1953, he was removed again in December 1956. In June 1957, as a supporter of Nikita Khrushchev, he was readmitted to the Presidium as an alternate member and was reinstated as deputy premier. He served as chairman of Gosplan, the Soviet economic planning agency, from March 1959 to May 1960, when he was made a full member of the Presidium and a first deputy premier. In 1964 he replaced Khrushchev as premier, although his role in Khrushchev's ouster is obscure. From the late 1960s he shared the power of governing with Leonid Brezhnev and Nikolay Podgorny, but by the early 1970s Brezhnev had become the leading figure. In October 1980 he retired because of ill health.

Kotaite, Assad (b. Nov. 6, 1924, Hasbaya, Lebanon), president of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (1976-2006).

Kotelawala, Sir John (Lionel) (b. April 4, 1897 - d. Oct. 2, 1980), prime minister of Ceylon (1953-56); knighted 1948.

Kotsokoane, Joseph (Riffat Larry) (b. Oct. 19, 1922, Johannesburg, South Africa), foreign minister of Lesotho (1974-75).

Kotval, S(ohrab) P(eshotan), governor of Maharashtra (1969-70).

Kou Abhay (Og Long) (b. Dec. 7, 1892, Khong, Champasak [now in Laos] - d. April 1964), prime minister of Laos (1960); brother of Nhouy Abhay.

Kou Xia (b. 1884, Pucheng, Shaanxi, China - d. Sept. 6, 1953, Xian, Shaanxi), Chinese minister of agriculture and commerce (1925-26). He became a revolutionary activist and was nominated as vice-speaker of the Shaanxi Provisional Council. He became a member of the House of Representatives upon the founding of the republic. He participated in the anti-Yuan Shikai movement in 1916 (the Republic Salvation Movement when Yuan claimed the throne). A year later as Duan Qirui refused to restore the abolished constitution, Kou moved south and joined Sun Yat-sen's Extraordinary Congress in Guangzhou. He participated in the Beijing Coup of 1924 and entered the cabinet upon its success; he became an adviser of the Shaanxi provincial government after leaving the cabinet. He was elected a member of the Shaanxi People's Government after 1949.

Kouandété

Kouandété, (Iropa) Maurice (b. Sept. 22, 1932, Natitingou, Dahomey [now Benin] - d. April 7, 2003, Natitingou), prime minister of Dahomey (1967-68); also member of the Directory (1969-70) responsible for economic affairs, finance, and cooperation. He was arrested in February 1972 for his role in a coup attempt, was sentenced to death in May, but granted an amnesty and released in December.

Kouchner

Koulamallah

Kouchner, Bernard (Jean) (b. Nov. 1, 1939, Avignon, France), administrator of Kosovo (1999-2001) and foreign minister of France (2007- ).

Koulamallah, Ahmad (b. Feb. 11, 1912, Massenya, Chad - d. Sept. 5, 1995, N'Djamena, Chad), president of the provisional government of Chad (1959).

Koulibaly

Koumakoye

Koulibaly, Mamadou (b. April 21, 1957, Azaguié, north of Abidjan, Ivory Coast), finance minister of Côte d'Ivoire (2000-01). He became president of the National Assembly on Jan. 23, 2001.

Koumakoye, (Nouradine) Delwa Kassire (b. Dec. 31, 1949, Bongor, Chad), prime minister of Chad (1993-95, 2007-08). He was a presidential candidate in 1996 and 2001, winning about 2% of the vote each time, and in 2006, winning 15.1%.

Koun Wick (b. 1917 - d. Dec. 27, 1999, London, England), foreign minister of Cambodia (1964-65, 1970-72); cousin of Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum.

Kountché

Kountché, Seyni (b. July 1, 1931, Fandou, Niger - d. Nov. 10, 1987, Paris, France), president of Niger (1974-87). He joined the French colonial army in 1949 and served in Indochina and Algeria, becoming a sergeant in 1957. After his country became independent (1960), he transferred to the Niger Army (1961). Kountché studied at the officers' training school in Paris (1965-66) and became deputy chief of staff of the Niger armed forces (1966-73) and then chief of staff (1973). He assumed power when he ousted Pres. Hamani Diori in a military coup. At first Kountché retained a large number of ministerial portfolios, and he frequently reshuffled his governments. He ruled with paternalistic rigour and managed to make his country self-sufficient in grain while increasing its wealth by developing uranium mining. He survived a number of attempted coups. He visited China and the U.S. (1984) and maintained good relations with France.

Kountouriotis, Pavlos (Theodorou) (b. April 1855, Hydra, Greece - d. Aug. 22, 1935, Palaio Faliro, near Athens, Greece), regent (1920, 1923-24), provisional governor (1924-25), provisional president (1925-26, 1926-29), and president (1929) of Greece.

Kouomegni

Kouyaté

Kouomegni, Augustin Kontchou (b. 1945, Nkongsamba, French Cameroons [now in Littoral province, Cameroon]), foreign minister of Cameroon (1997-2001).

Kouyaté, Lansana (b. July 15, 1950, Koba, French Guinea [now Guinea]), executive secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (1997-2002) and prime minister of Guinea (2007-08).

Kovác

Kovács

Kovác, Michal (b. Aug. 5, 1930, Lubisa, eastern Slovakia), finance minister of Slovakia (1989-90) and of Czechoslovakia (1990-91), speaker of the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia (1992), and president of Slovakia (1993-98).

Kovács, László (b. July 3, 1939, Budapest, Hungary), foreign minister of Hungary (1994-98, 2002-04). He was Hungary's EU commissioner in 2004-10.

Kovalev, Aleksandr (Yakovlevich) (b. Sept. 13, 1942), head of the administration of Voronezh oblast (1992-96).

O. Kovalev

Kovalev, Oleg (Ivanovich) (b. Sept. 7, 1948, Vannovka village, Krasnodar kray, Russian S.F.S.R.), governor of Ryazan oblast (2008- ).

Kovalev, Yevgeny (Alekseyevich) (b. 1962, Tulsky, Maykopsky rayon, Adygey autonomous oblast, Russian S.F.S.R.), acting prime minister of Adygeya (2006).

Kovlyagin, Anatoly (Fyodorovich) (b. Jan. 11, 1938, Blokhin village, Penza oblast, Russian S.F.S.R. - d. Oct. 3, 2009), head of the administration of Penza oblast (1993-98).

Koyagialo Ngbase te Gerengbo, (Louis), governor of Shaba (1986-90).

Koyambounou

Koyambounou, Gabriel (Jean Édouard) (b. 1947, Bangui), prime minister of the Central African Republic (1995-96). After François Bozizé's coup in 2003 he went into hiding in the Nigerian embassy; on June 8, while he was outside meeting with other leaders from the former ruling party, he and the others were arrested, being accused of organizing "subversive meetings" to destabilize the new administration. They were released the next day, but the Nigerian embassy refused to allow Koyambounou back. He declared that he had been maltreated by armed elements led by the nephew of President Bozizé. On August 21 he was again arrested for "diversion of public monies." He was accused of having diverted more than 100 million CFA francs in 2000, but he was acquitted by a court of appeals on Dec. 7, 2004.

Kozachko

Kozak

Kozakou-M.

Kozachko, Anatoly (Vasilyevich) (b. June 4, 1949), prime minister of Kalmykia (2003-07).

Kozak, Dmitry (Nikolayevich) (b. Nov. 7, 1958, Kirovograd oblast, Ukrainian S.S.R.), plenipotentiary of the president in Yuzhny federal district (2004-07). In 2007-08 he was Russian minister of regional development and in 2008 he became deputy prime minister, in charge of the preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Kozakou-Marcoullis, Erato (b. Aug. 3, 1949, Limassol, Cyprus), foreign minister of Cyprus (2007-08).

Kozhemyako

Kozhemyako, Oleg (Nikolayevich) (b. March 17, 1962, Chernigovka, Chernigovsky rayon, Primorsky kray, Russian S.F.S.R.), acting governor of Koryak autonomous okrug (2005-07) and governor of Amur oblast (2008- ).

Kozic, Dusan (b. Dec. 8, 1958, Ljubinje [now in Republika Srpska], Bosnia and Hercegovina), prime minister of the Republika Srpska (1994-95).

A. Kozlov

M. Kozlov

Kozlov, Aleksandr (Petrovich) (b. May 2, 1949, Sentovo village, Tatar A.S.S.R., Russian S.F.S.R.), governor of Oryol oblast (2009- ).

Kozlov, Mikhail (Sergeyevich) (b. Oct. 27, 1951, Pechora, Komi A.S.S.R., Russian S.F.S.R.), acting head of the administration of Altay kray (2005).

Kozonguizi, Fanuel (Jariretundu) (b. Jan. 26, 1932, Windhoek, South West Africa [now Namibia] - d. Feb. 1, 1995, Windhoek), chairman of the Transitional Government of National Unity of Namibia (1986).

Kozyrev, Andrey (Vladimirovich) (b. March 27, 1951, Brussels, Belgium), foreign minister of Russia (1990-96).

Kpomakpor, David (Donald), name also reported as Kpormakpor (b. 1944), chairman of the Council of State of Liberia (1994-95).

Kpotsra, Roland (Yao) (b. Feb. 20, 1947, Lomé, Togo), foreign minister of Togo (2002-03). He was also Togo's permanent representative to the United Nations (1996-2002, 2007-09).

Kraag, Johan(nes Samuel Petrus) (b. 1913 - d. May 24, 1996), president of Suriname (1990-91). He was also chairman of the Staten (parliament) in 1958-63.

Kraag-Keteldijk

Kracun

Kraag-Keteldijk, Lygia (Louise Irene) (b. June 18, 1941, Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana [now Suriname]), foreign minister of Suriname (2005- ).

Kracun, Davorin (b. Oct. 31, 1950, Maribor, Slovenia), foreign minister of Slovenia (1996-97). He was also ambassador to the U.S. (2000-04).

Krag

Krag, Jens Otto (b. Sept. 15, 1914, Randers, Denmark - d. June 22, 1978, Skiveren, Denmark), prime minister of Denmark (1962-68, 1971-72). He joined the Social Democratic Party's youth organization in 1930 and quickly rose in the ranks of the party. In 1940, he joined the Danish directorate of supply and served as coordinator of the labour movement's economic council. Elected to Parliament in 1947, he became minister of commerce and supported Denmark's change from neutrality to a strong defense policy. But deciding that he needed to learn more both of the world and of the English language, he asked for a post at the Danish embassy in Washington, D.C., where he worked as economic adviser (1950-52). He reentered Parliament in 1952 and was appointed minister without portfolio and then minister of the new department of foreign economic affairs (1953-58) and foreign minister (1958-62, 1966-67). During Krag's terms as prime minister he worked toward the goal of European economic cooperation. He was awarded the Charlemagne Prize at Aachen, West Germany, in 1966 for his services to European unity. He astounded his countrymen when he resigned as prime minister after Denmark voted in 1972 to join the European Economic Community (EEC). The campaign over membership was bitterly fought and Krag explained that he had been looking for an opportunity to leave politics. The passions roused by his campaign never completely died down. In 1976 a nude statue of Krag was shown at a Copenhagen art exhibition with the title "The Man Who Sold Us to the EEC." In 1974-75 he was the Common Market's chief representative in the United States.

Kraigher, Sergej (b. May 30, 1914, Postojna, Slovenia - d. Jan. 17, 2001, Ljubljana, Slovenia), Yugoslav politician. He was governor of the National Bank of Yugoslavia (1951-53), president of the People's Assembly (1967-73) and of the Presidency (1974-79) of Slovenia, and president of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1981-82).

Krajina, Borislav (b. Sept. 24, 1930, Doboj, Yugoslavia [now in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Hercegovina]), justice minister of Yugoslavia (1982-86).

Krajisnik

Krajisnik, Momcilo (b. Jan. 20, 1945, Zabrdje village, near Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina), Bosnian politician. He served as speaker of the assembly in the Yugoslav republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina but left that position to become speaker of the Bosnian Serb assembly (1991-95). He was the main power broker in the Serb republic, a man with more clout than even Pres. Radovan Karadzic as a result of his tight control over police and local authorities and alleged contacts with war profiteers. In 1996 Krajisnik won the Serb seat on the new central government collective Presidency. But Krajisnik and his party suffered a serious blow in the 1997 power struggle with the Serb republic's Pres. Biljana Plavsic whose supporters eventually took over the police and the Bosnian Serb television with the help of NATO troops. After the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and its ally the Radical Party failed to secure a majority in the entity's parliamentary vote in November 1997, the hardliners suffered another setback with the election of a moderate government under Prime Minister Milorad Dodik. A number of former high-ranking government officials and SDS members were eventually prosecuted for corruption. Krajisnik himself was accused of being involved in the August 1998 murder of a pro-Plavsic senior police officer in the hardliners' stronghold of Pale. He was arrested on charges including genocide, crimes against humanity, murder, and extermination on April 3, 2000. His trial before the UN war crimes tribunal began in February 2004. He was convicted and sentenced to 27 years in prison for crimes against humanity, but cleared of genocide, on Sept. 27, 2006.

Kramár

Kramplová

Kramár, Karel (b. Dec. 27, 1860, Vysoké nad Jizerou [now in northern Czech Republic] - d. May 26, 1937, Prague), chairman of the National Council (1918) and prime minister (1918-19) of Czechoslovakia.

Kramplová, Zdenka (b. Aug. 7, 1957, Krupina, Czechoslovakia [now in Slovakia]), foreign minister of Slovakia (1997-98). In 2007-08 she was agriculture minister.

Kranenburg, Ferdinand Jan (b. April 1, 1911, Tiel, Gelderland, Netherlands - d. Nov. 15, 1994, The Hague), queen's commissioner of Noord-Holland (1964-76).

Krantz, Jules (François Émile) (b. Dec. 29, 1821, Givet, Ardennes, France - d. Jan. 25, 1914, Toulon, France), acting governor of Cochinchina (1874) and marine and colonies minister (1888-89) and marine minister (1889) of France.

Krasae

Krasts

Krasae Chanawongse (b. March 1, 1934, Khon Kaen, Thailand), foreign minister of Thailand (1995).

Krasnoyarov, Yevgeny (Alekseyevich) (b. Nov. 24, 1939), head of the administration of Sakhalin oblast (1993-95).

Krasts, Guntars (b. Oct. 16, 1957, Riga), prime minister of Latvia (1997-98). He became economy minister in late 1995 and was chosen as prime minister following the resignation of Andris Skele in 1997. He was a member of the nationalist group For Fatherland and Freedom, which was the third largest party in parliament.

Krasucki

Krasucki, Henri (b. Sept. 2, 1924, Wolomin, near Warsaw, Poland - d. Jan. 24, 2003, Paris), French union leader. Two years after his birth he was brought to France by his parents, both Jewish communists fleeing persecution in Poland. Captured by the Nazis in 1943 because of his work in the French resistance, which he joined at the age of 15, Krasucki was deported to Buchenwald and Auschwitz concentration camps but survived to return to France. He became a French citizen in 1947. Krasucki joined the Communist Party's central committee in 1956, as France's hardline communists stayed loyal to Moscow despite the uproar over the Soviet invasion of Hungary that year. A metalworker by training, he belonged to its politburo from 1964 to 1996. He led France's biggest trade union, the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), from 1982 to 1992.

Krauchenka, Petr (Kuzmich) (b. 1950), foreign minister of Belarus (1990-94).

Krause, Rudolf (b. Feb. 19, 1939, Neissgrund, Silesia, Prussia, Germany [now Podtynie, Poland]), Regierungsbevollmächtigter of Leipzig (1990).

Krautheimer, Jean-Félix (b. Dec. 3, 1874 - d. Jan. 7, 1943), governor of Cochinchina (1929-34).

Kravchenko

Kravchenko, Yuriy (Fedorovych) (b. March 5, 1951, Aleksandria, Kirovograd oblast, Ukrainian S.S.R. - d. March 4, 2005, Konche-Zaspa, near Kiev), interior minister of Ukraine (1995-2001). He apparently committed suicide on the day he was due to be questioned about the 2000 murder of investigative reporter Heorhiy Gongadze.

Kravchuk

Kravchuk, Leonid (Makarovych) (b. Jan. 10, 1934, Velyky Zhytyn, Poland [now in Ukraine]), president of Ukraine (1991-94). In 1958 he joined the Communist Party. He began a political career, becoming head of the agitation and propaganda departments, first (in the 1960s) of the Chernovtsy oblast committee of the Ukrainian Communist Party, and later of the Central Committee of the Ukrainian party. During 1988-90 he served as head of the ideology department and as second secretary of the Central Committee. In 1989 he became a candidate member and in 1990 a member of the Ukrainian Politburo. He became chairman of the Ukrainian Supreme Soviet in July 1990, and as such he soon became the effective leader of the republic. As the central government in Moscow grew weaker, he began to warm to the Ukrainian independence movement. He left the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in August 1990. After the failure of the coup attempt by Soviet Communist hardliners in August 1991, he expressed unqualified support for independence. He was elected president in December 1991 but lost reelection to Leonid Kuchma in July 1994. He remained a deputy of the Supreme Council, joining the United Social Democratic Party in 1998 and heading its faction since June 18, 2002.

Krecheuski, Pyotr (Antonavich) (b. Aug. 7, 1879 - d. March 8, 1928), chairman of the Rada of the Belorussian People's Republic in rebellion (1919-20) and in exile (1920-28).

Kreisky

Kreisky, Bruno (b. Jan. 22, 1911, Vienna, Austria-Hungary - d. July 29, 1990, Vienna, Austria), chancellor of Austria (1970-83). He joined the Socialist youth movement in 1926; the Socialist Party was outlawed in 1934, and in 1935 he was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months. In 1938, after the Nazi takeover, he was again arrested for political activities, but escaped to Sweden. Returning after the war, he joined the Foreign Service and was assigned back to Sweden to serve at the Austrian legation in Stockholm (1946-50). After serving in the federal president's office (1951-53) he became secretary of state in the foreign ministry (1953-59) and then foreign minister (1959-66). From 1956 he was a member of parliament, and in 1959 he was elected deputy chairman of the Socialists. After the party's decisive defeat in the 1966 election, he took the lead in an intraparty reform movement. He was narrowly elected chairman of the Socialists in 1967, and he became chancellor when the Socialists emerged from the 1970 elections as the strongest party; in 1971 they acquired an absolute majority, and this was preserved in elections in 1975 and 1979. He was credited with successfully pursuing a policy of "active neutrality," smoothing relations with neighbouring Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia and seeking cooperation with other nonaligned nations. In 1976 he became vice-president of the Socialist International, in which capacity he undertook contacts with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In 1980 he sparked an international debate and antagonized Israel by offering formal recognition to the PLO. In 1983 the Socialist Party lost its majority, and he speedily fulfilled a pledge to resign rather than lead a coalition. He remained honorary party chairman until 1987.

Krenz

Krenz, Egon (b. March 19, 1937, Kolberg, Germany [now Kolobrzeg, Poland]), chairman of the Council of State of East Germany (1989). He served in a succession of senior posts from 1973 until 1989, when he replaced East Germany's long-serving leader Erich Honecker, who was ousted amid mounting demonstrations demanding reforms and freedom to travel. Krenz allowed the historic opening of the Berlin Wall during a brief seven weeks in power. His leadership was replaced in December 1989 by a reform-oriented caretaker government led by Hans Modrow, a moderate communist who ran the country until its first democratic elections in March 1990. In August 1997 Krenz was convicted for manslaughter, being held partly responsible for the shooting deaths of East Germans trying to flee to the West at the Berlin Wall and other heavily fortified stretches of Germany's former east-west border. He maintained that stopping citizens from leaving the country broke no East German law. He began serving a 6˝-year work-release sentence in January 2000 after a series of failed appeals. The European Court of Human Rights also rejected Krenz' illegal-trial argument in 2001. He was paroled in December 2003 after serving nearly four years at Berlin's Plötzensee prison.

Kress, Viktor (Melkhiorovich) (b. Nov. 16, 1948), head of the administration (1991-95) and governor (1995- ) of Tomsk oblast.

Kretser, David (Morritz) de (b. April 27, 1939, Colombo, Ceylon [now Sri Lanka]), governor of Victoria (2006- ).

Kriangsak

Kriangsak Chomanan (b. Dec. 17, 1917, Mahachai district, Samut Sakorn province, Siam [now Thailand] - d. Dec. 23, 2003, Bangkok), prime minister (1977-80), interior minister (1977-78), defense minister (1978-79), and finance minister (1979-80) of Thailand. In 1940-43 he was a platoon leader in a brief war against French Indochina. In 1973 he became a full general, in 1974 army chief of staff, and in 1976 supreme commander of the military. He was part of a military faction that took power after right-wing political power-brokers provoked mobs to lynch left-wing student protesters at Bangkok's Thammasat University on Oct. 6, 1976. The junta appointed a civilian prime minister, Thanin Kraivichien, but his ultraconservative policies exacerbated the rifts in Thai society. With broad military support, another coup was staged in October 1977 and Kriangsak was appointed prime minister. He moved to temper Thanin's repressive policies, which had strengthened a communist insurgency. An amnesty program for former members of the Communist Party eventually helped quash the insurgency. His government promulgated a constitution in 1978 setting up a timetable for the restoration of democracy, beginning with a 1979 election. He resigned in 1980 after losing the support of an influential faction of independent-minded army officers known as the Young Turks. In 1981, he successfully ran for a seat in parliament at the helm of his own National Democracy Party. When he was caught with other retired military officers at the headquarters of the plotters of a failed 1985 coup, he claimed he had been awoken in the middle of the night and brought to the coup-plotters' headquarters with no knowledge of what was going on. He and other retired generals went on trial in 1987, but all benefited from a general amnesty in 1988 before any verdict was reached.

Kriel, Hernus, byname of Hermanus Jacobus Kriel (b. Nov. 14, 1941, Kakamas, Cape province [now in Northern Cape], South Africa), premier of Western Cape (1994-98).

Kriplani, Sucheta (b. June 25, 1908, Ambala, Punjab, India - d. Dec. 1, 1974), chief minister of Uttar Pradesh (1963-67).

Krishna

Krishna, S(omanahalli) M(allaiah) (b. May 1, 1932, Somanahalli, Mandya district, Mysore [now Karnataka], India), chief minister of Karnataka (1999-2004), governor of Maharashtra (2004-08), and foreign minister of India (2009- ).

Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavsinhji (Gohil, Sir) (b. May 19, 1912, Bhavnagar, India - d. April 1, 1965, Bombay [now Mumbai], Maharashtra, India), Maharaja Rao of Bhavnagar (1919-47) and governor of Madras (1948-52). He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India on June 9, 1938.

Krishnatry, Surendra Mohan (b. 1921, Sikandrabad [now in Andhra Pradesh], India), chief commissioner of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1975-79).

Kriste, Petar (b. Jan. 5, 1936, Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia [now in Croatia]), defense minister of Croatia (1990).

Kristensen, Knud (b. Oct. 26, 1880, Ringkřbing, Denmark - d. Sept. 29, 1962, Hillerřd, Denmark), prime minister of Denmark (1945-47). Entering Parliament in 1920, he became a leader of the Venstre (Liberal) Party. In 1940 he became minister of the interior of Thorvald Stauning's coalition government under the German occupation but resigned after Stauning's death in 1942, when Erik Scavenius, who sought accommodation with the Germans, became prime minister. After the German surrender in 1945 he returned to the ministry for a short time. In October 1945 he became prime minister in a Liberal-Agrarian coalition. His government, supported by the great majority in parliament, told the United Kingdom, then the occupying power in Schleswig-Holstein, that the issue of South Schleswig, a province in contention for centuries between the Danes and the Germans, ought to depend upon an initiative from the local population. But a half-million Danes petitioned the government in 1946 to take over the area and Kristensen, who maintained that South Schleswig was "historically an Old Danish province," went on a personal campaign advocating the return of the province. Parliament censured this attitude as incompatible with the premiership, and his government fell in 1947. He split with his party in the 1953 constitutional referendum, campaigning against the provision that changed Denmark's bicameral legislature into a unicameral one. The same year he formed the small Independent Party, which advocated a return of southern Schleswig to Denmark and repeal of most social welfare legislation. It failed to win any seats in the new legislature, and Kristensen largely retired from political life (the party won six seats in 1960, however).

Kristiansen, Kĺre (Gulbrand) (b. March 11, 1920, Bergen, Norway - d. Dec. 3, 2005), Norwegian politician. He was chairman of the Christian People's Party in 1975-77 and 1979-83 and minister of oil and energy in 1983-86. He resigned from the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in 1994 to protest the decision to award the prize that year to Yasir Arafat. In 1997, he led a group of political and religious leaders in Norway in submitting a petition to the Foreign Ministry, demanding that the Norwegian embassy in Israel be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In 2005 he expressed his opposition to the Gaza Strip disengagement as "giving in to Arab terrorist pressure."

Kristioglo, Ivan (b. June 1, 1952), acting chairman of the Executive Committee of Gagauz-Yeri (2002).

Kristo

Kristo, Borjana (b. Aug. 13, 1961, Livno [now in Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina]), president of the Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina (2007- ).

Kristopans

Kristopans, Vilis (b. June 13, 1954, Omsk oblast, Russian S.F.S.R.), prime minister of Latvia (1998-99). In 1998 elections his centrist Latvia's Way party came second to Andris Skele's People's Party. Despite topping the poll with 24 of the 100 seats in parliament, the newly formed People's Party was frozen out of coalition talks, mainly because of animosities over Skele's confrontational style. Kristopans quickly filled the void, persuading the nationalist Fatherland and Freedom, with 17 seats, and centrist New Party, with 8, to form the core of any government with Latvia's Way, which won 21 seats. In contrast to Skele "the Big Vilis," as the lanky politician was known, got strong reviews from all sides for his work as transport minister in the old government. He was credited with introducing an entrepreneurial spirit to his ministry, and was promoted to shake up the moribund state revenue service. Though the antithesis of Skele in character, Kristopans was not without his detractors. In early 1998 he faced a minor scandal for remaining on several boards of directors even after becoming a minister. He was also taken to task for calling his opponents "provincial" and referred to Latvia as "the land of fools" when being investigated for a conflict of interest over the board positions.

Krivchenko, Albert (Arkadiyevich), head of the administration of Amur oblast (1991-93).

Krizanovic

Krizanovic, Jozo (b. July 28, 1944, Vitez [now in Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina] - d. Dec. 2, 2009, Zagreb, Croatia), chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Hercegovina (2001-02).

Krndelj, Ivan (b. Jan. 17, 1959, Brcko, Bosnia and Hercegovina), acting mayor of Brcko (2003).

Krofta, Kamil (b. July 17, 1876, Plzen [now in Czech Republic] - d. Aug. 16, 1945, Písek [now in Czech Republic]), foreign minister of Czechoslovakia (1936-38).

Kroon, Ciro Domenico (b. Jan. 31, 1916, Curaçao), prime minister of the Netherlands Antilles (1968-69).

Kropotkin

Kropotkin, Peter, Russian in full Pyotr Alekseyevich Kropotkin (b. Dec. 21 [Dec. 9, old style], 1842, Moscow - d. Feb. 8, 1921, Dmitrov, near Moscow), Russian revolutionary. He was the son of Prince Aleksey Petrovich Kropotkin. He served as an aide to Emperor Aleksandr II for a year and as an army officer in Siberia in 1862-67. In 1871 he renounced his aristocratic heritage and dedicated his life to the cause of social justice. During his Siberian service he had already begun his conversion to anarchism and in 1872 a visit to the Swiss watchmakers of the Jura Mountains, whose voluntary associations of mutual support won his admiration, confirmed him in his beliefs. On his return to Russia he joined a revolutionary group that disseminated propaganda among the workers and peasants of St. Petersburg and Moscow. Caught in a police dragnet, he was imprisoned in 1874 but made a sensational escape two years later, fleeing to western Europe, where his name soon became revered in radical circles. The next few years he spent mostly in Switzerland until he was expelled at the demand of the Russian government after the assassination of Aleksandr II by revolutionaries in 1881. He moved to France but was arrested and locked up for three years on trumped-up charges of sedition. Released in 1886, he settled in England, where he remained for the next 30 years, writing a number of influential works such as Mutual Aid (1902). The revolution of 1917 allowed him to return to Russia. He was offered the ministry of education in the provisional government but declined. He felt that the appearance of communes and soviets might form the basis of a stateless society, but the Bolshevik seizure of power turned his earlier enthusiasm to bitter disappointment.

Krueger, Anne (Osborn) (b. Feb. 12, 1934, Endicott, N.Y.), acting managing director of the International Monetary Fund (2004).

Krugers, Xavier Henri Charles Marie (b. Dec. 5, 1896, Curaçao - d. ...), deputy administrator of Saba (1927-30, 1933-35) and Sint Eustatius (1930-33), subadministrator of Saba (1939-43), and administrator of Bonaire (1943-52).

Kubarev, Eduard (Alekseyevich) (b. 1939), chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Chuvashia (1991-94).

Kubilius

Kubilius, Andrius (b. Dec. 8, 1956, Vilnius), prime minister of Lithuania (1999-2000, 2008- ). In 1988 he was already seen among activists of the pro-national Sajudis movement, holding the post of executive secretary. He was elected to the Seimas in 1992. For some time, Kubilius headed the faction of the conservative Homeland Union in the parliament. After the triumph of the conservatives in the 1996 parliamentary polls, Kubilius was appointed as first deputy chairman of the Seimas. He also was chairman of the parliamentary European committee.

Kubis

Kubis, Ján (b. Nov. 12, 1952, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia [now in Slovakia]), secretary-general of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (1999-2005) and foreign minister of Slovakia (2006-09).

Kubitschek

Kubitschek de Oliveira, Juscelino (b. Sept. 12, 1902, Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil - d. Aug. 22, 1976, near Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), president of Brazil (1956-61). He represented Minas Gerais in the Federal Chamber of Deputies (1934-37, 1946-50) and was mayor of Belo Horizonte (1940-45), which he transformed into a thriving city with avenues and a garden suburb, and governor of Minas Gerais (1951-55), where he concentrated on highway construction and agricultural and industrial development. Elected president in 1955, his slogan was "Fifty years' progress in five." He built the futuristic new inland capital, Brasília (inaugurated April 21, 1960), and was responsible for the construction of a 1,450-km highway that cut through the Amazon jungle and linked the new capital to Belém at the mouth of the Amazon River. His term was marked by unprecedented industrial growth, but it also generated high rates of inflation, brought under control only in the mid-1960s. Vast sums had to be spent for the rehabilitation of the drought-afflicted northeast. Elected to the Senate in 1962, he was nominated for president by the Partido Social Democrático in 1964, but the military junta that took power that year forced him into exile. He returned to Brazil in 1967. He died in an automobile crash. In August 2000 Congress proclaimed his death may have involved foul play. At the time of his death, he was one of the most outspoken opponents of the military dictatorship. Two other leaders of his opposition movement Frente Amplo ("Broad Front") also died during 1976/77 - possibly at the orders of military rulers: ex-president Joăo Goulart, who died of a heart attack in his sleep in Argentina, and former Guanabara governor Carlos Lacerda, who died after injecting a flu-shot.

Kubuabola, Ratu Inoke (b. June 16, 1948, Cakaudrove, Fiji), foreign minister of Fiji (2009- ).

Kubuabola

Kucan

Küchler-Flury

Kucan, Milan (b. Jan. 14, 1941, Krizevci, Croatia), president of Slovenia (1990-2002).

Kuchava, Mitrofan (Ionovich) (b. June 6 [May 24, O.S.], 1906 - d. Nov. 6, 1999), foreign minister of the Georgian S.S.R. (1954-62).

Küchler-Flury, Maria (b. Jan. 26, 1941), Landammann of Obwalden (2003-04).

Kuchma

Kuchma, Leonid (Danylovych) (b. Aug. 9, 1938, Chaykino village, Chernigov oblast, Ukrainian S.S.R. [now Chaykyne, Chernihiv, Ukraine]), prime minister (1992-93) and president (1994-2005) of Ukraine. He was elected a people's deputy in the Ukraine in 1990. In October 1992 he was appointed prime minister by Leonid Kravchuk, Ukraine's first democratically elected president. Kuchma clashed with Kravchuk over economic policies and resigned from the post in September 1993. He was appointed chairman of the Ukrainian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in December 1993. In the July 1994 presidential elections, Kuchma defeated the incumbent Kravchuk, a nationalist, by reaching out to former Communists, sweeping the industrial cities of eastern Ukraine and the Crimea and dividing the vote in central Ukraine. During the campaign he persistently advocated closer ties with Russia, a policy that alienated him from the major nationalist centres of western Ukraine. Though Russian was his native tongue, Kuchma was able to demonstrate an adequate command of the Ukrainian language in his campaign speeches. He did not deliver the sweeping rights for Ukraine's large Russian-speaking population and pursued ambivalent foreign policies, balancing between Europe and Russia but failing to choose a clear direction. His popularity steadily declined as his reforms failed to improve the country's economy. In November 1999 he was reelected, though observers alleged voting irregularities. In 2000 he was implicated in the disappearance of a journalist, which led to a further erosion of his support. He did not run for reelection in 2004.

Kucinich

Kucinich, Dennis (John) (b. Oct. 8, 1946, Cleveland, Ohio), U.S. politician. His political career began as soon as he was old enough to vote. He served in the city council of Cleveland and was elected clerk of courts before winning a close race for mayor in November 1977. He campaigned against the big business "special interests" and won despite the opposition of his own Democratic Party. He was the youngest person ever to become mayor of a major American city. Cleveland was beset by economic and social problems on a massive scale, and Kucinich had promised to reverse the decline of what had once been a prosperous industrial city. He began to veto city council development programs and insisted that private enterprise be responsible for saving the city's disintegrating central business district. Most of his major appointments were highly controversial including that of Police Chief Richard D. Hongisto. When the police staged a "sickout" in a contract dispute, Kucinich ordered Hongisto to patrol the streets personally and later charged that the police force was corrupt. The firing of Hongisto after he publicly accused Kucinich of trying to force him to commit "unethical acts" catalyzed an unprecedented recall election in August 1978, which Kucinich barely survived, winning by fewer than 300 votes. The city's financial plight grew worse, and on Dec. 15, 1978, he found himself presiding over the first major U.S. city to default on its obligations since the 1930s. He was defeated in his reelection bid in 1979 by George Voinovich. In 1984, he again won a seat on the city council. In 1994 he became the only Democrat to defeat an incumbent Republican when he won a state senate seat, and in 1996 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He was a minor candidate for the 2004 and 2008 Democratic presidential nominations. He unsuccessfully proposed the impeachment of Vice Pres. Dick Cheney (2007) and Pres. George W. Bush (2008).

Kuczynski

Kuczynski (Godard), Pedro Pablo (b. October 1938, Lima, Peru), finance minister (2001-02, 2004-05) and prime minister (2005-06) of Peru.

Kudrick, John M(ichael) (b. Dec. 23, 1947, Lloydell, Pa.), administrator of the Byzantine Catholic Church in America (2001-02).

Kudrin, Aleksey (Leonidovich) (b. Oct. 12, 1960, Dobel, Latvian S.S.R.), finance minister of Russia (2000- ). He steered through sweeping tax changes and presided over a steady decline in external debt with the country sticking assiduously to a repayment schedule that peaked in 2003. He also reined in inflation while the economy boomed. His stewardship of the economy was rewarded in October 2003 when credit risk rating agency Moody's granted Russia coveted investment grade status for the first time.

Kudsi

Kudsi, Nazim al-, also spelled Nazim al-Qudsi (b. Feb. 14, 1906, Aleppo, Ottoman Empire [now in Syria] - d. Feb. 6, 1998, Amman, Jordan), prime minister (1949, 1950-51), foreign minister (1949, 1950-51), speaker of parliament (1951, 1954-57), and president (1961-63) of Syria. He began his political career in 1932. He was a member of the then-influential Arab nationalist movement known as the National Bloc. He climbed the political ladder until he was appointed foreign minister in 1950 and prime minister later that year. Kudsi ruled Syria as president after the dissolution of the short-lived union between Egypt and Syria. In 1962, he survived disturbances by army factions that fought for power. He was sacked in 1963 in a bloodless coup led by Col. Ziad Hariri, an army officer, aided by the Arab Ba`th Socialist Party. He moved to Lebanon, where he lived until 1986, when he moved to Jordan.

Kufuor

Kufuor, John (Kofi) Agyekum (b. Dec. 8, 1938, Kumasi, Ghana), president of Ghana (2001-09). He is from the once-dominant Ashanti tribe in Ghana's gold- and cocoa-producing economic heartland. He was city manager and chief legal officer of Kumasi City Council in 1967-69. He served as a junior foreign minister in a 1969-72 civilian government sandwiched between two periods of military rule and was a member of constituent assemblies that wrote new constitutions in 1969 and 1979. He served briefly in Jerry John Rawlings' administration in 1982, with a local government brief, but resigned after seven months over political differences. He made his political comeback several years after Ghana's return to multiparty democracy in the early 1990s. He was the presidential candidate of his New Patriotic Party in 1996 and was praised at home and abroad for congratulating Rawlings on his victory in the election. Rawlings did not take part in the 2000 presidential race, and Kufuor, whom Rawlings once predicted would never win power, polled 48.4% against 44.8% for Vice President John Atta Mills, candidate of the ruling National Democratic Congress. All five candidates eliminated in the first round rallied to Kufuor. In the runoff, he won 56.7%. Kufuor, himself a Christian, chose a Muslim running mate, Aliu Mahama, to bolster support in the north. He and his party tapped a vein of discontent among the young and up-and-coming business people thriving on free market reforms brought in by Rawlings. Instead of the popstar-like appeal to the masses of the boisterous, impulsive, and passionate Rawlings, he came across as avuncular and level-headed - if a touch aloof. Kufuor, under whose leadership Ghana's inflation rate had dropped from 40.5% to 12.5%, was reelected in 2004. He was also chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (2003-05) and of the African Union (2007-08).

Kuhn, Robert T. (b. April 5, 1937, Saint Paul, Minn.), president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (2001- ).

Kukan

Kukan, Eduard (b. Dec. 26, 1939, Trnovec nad Váhom, western Slovakia), foreign minister (1994, 1998-2006) and acting defense minister (2003) of Slovakia. He was a vice-chairman of Mikulás Dzurinda's Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK). He was a diplomat in Zambia, the United States, and Ethiopia and in 1990 was appointed ambassador to the United Nations in New York. He is strongly in favour of integration into NATO and the EU. He was the candidate of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) in the presidential elections of April 3, 2004, but only won third place.

Kulakov

Kulakov, Vladimir (Grigoryevich) (b. April 23, 1944, Komsomolsk-na-Amure, Khabarovsk kray, Russian S.F.S.R.), head of the administration of Voronezh oblast (2000-09).

Kuleshov, Anatoly (Nilovich), Belarusian Anatol Kulyashou (b. July 25, 1959, Ali-Bayramly, Azerbaijan S.S.R. [now Shirvan, Azerbaijan]), interior minister of Belarus (2009- ).

Kulikov, Georgy (Viktorovich) (b. Sept. 13, 1950, Samarkand, Uzbek S.S.R.), acting justice minister of Russia (1997).

Kulikov, Viktor (Georgiyevich) (b. July 5, 1921), commander-in-chief of the Warsaw Treaty Organization (1977-89). He became a marshal on Jan. 14, 1977.

Kulishev (Gugov), Georgi (b. 1885 - d. Sept. 27, 1974), foreign minister (1946) and deputy chairman of the Presidium of the National Assembly (1954-71) of Bulgaria.

Kuliyev

Kuliyev, Avdy (Ovezkuliyevich) (b. July 30, 1936, Ashkhabad, Turkmen S.S.R. - d. April 10, 2007, Oslo, Norway), foreign minister of Turkmenistan (1990-92). He resigned after he and Pres. Saparmurat Niyazov quarreled about the course the country should take. He then went into exile in Moscow and became a prominent opposition leader and head of the United Turkmen Opposition, formed in 2002.

Kulov

Kulov, Feliks (Sharshenbayevich) (b. Oct. 29, 1948, Frunze, Kirgiz S.S.R. [now Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan]), interior minister (1991-92), vice president (1992-93), national security minister (1997-98), and prime minister (2005-07) of Kyrgyzstan, governor of Chu oblast (1993-97), and mayor of Bishkek (1998). Arrested in 2000, he was sentenced in January 2001 to seven years in jail for abuse of office and in May 2002 to ten more years for embezzlement. Human rights groups said the charges were either fabricated for political motivations, or would not warrant imprisonment. The United States and the European Union agreed that Kulov was a political prisoner and called for his release. He was freed during the revolution of March 24, 2005, and was appointed coordinator of the country's law-enforcement agencies; he resigned from that post a week later, saying he had fulfilled his mission of restoring law and order. The Supreme Court overturned the guilty verdicts on the charge of abuse of office on April 6 and on the embezzlement charge on April 11; this gave Kulov, the leader of the Ar-Namys (Dignity) party, the opportunity to run for president in July. On May 12, however, he signed an agreement with Prime Minister Kurmanbek Bakiyev to form an alliance for the election. In case of Bakiyev's victory, Kulov would be appointed prime minister. On May 16 Kulov was already appointed acting first deputy prime minister. In December 2006 he resigned as prime minister just before the passing of a new, revised constitution that restored many powers to the presidency. Bakiyev renominated him in January 2007, but parliament disapproved. In February he broke with Bakiyev and allied his party with other opposition groups in the United Front for a Worthy Future for Kyrgyzstan.

Kulumbegov, Torez (Georgiyevich) (b. Sept. 2, 1938 - d. Oct. 1, 2006), chairman of parliament of South Ossetia (1992-93).

Kumalic, Ismet (b. April 9, 1951, Sanski Most [now in Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina]), premier of Una-Sana (2004-05).

Nikhil Kumar

Nitish Kumar

Kumar, Nikhil (b. July 15, 1941, Hajipur, Bihar, India), governor of Nagaland (2009- ); son of Satyendra Narayan Sinha.

Kumar, Nitish (b. March 1, 1951, Bakhtiarpur, Patna district, Bihar, India), chief minister of Bihar (2000, 2005- ).

P. Kumar

Kumar, Prabhat (b. Oct. 5, 1940), governor of Jharkhand (2000-02). He resigned following controversy over his alleged acceptance of hospitality from a tainted businessman.

Kumaraswamy, H(aradanahalli) D(evegowda), (b. Dec. 19, 1959), chief minister of Karnataka (2006-07); son of H.D. Deve Gowda. In 2006 he changed his name to Kumaaraswamy to make it "numerologically correct," but he did not insist it to be spelled that way, and the old spelling remained in general use.

Kumaratunga

Kumaratunga, Chandrika (Bandaranaike) (b. June 29, 1945, Colombo, Ceylon [now Sri Lanka]), prime minister (1994) and president (1994-2005) of Sri Lanka; daughter of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike. She became vice president (1984) and president (1986) of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP) but in 1992 rejoined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and in 1993 became chief minister of the Western Province. In 1994 she was the vice president of the People's Alliance (PA) and deputy leader of the SLFP, part of the PA coalition. She became prime minister in August 1994 when the PA ousted the long-entrenched United National Party (UNP) in national elections. Even in South Asian politics, where women recently had risen to leadership positions, the situation that evolved in Sri Lanka in 1994 was unique. In November a mother and daughter took over the country's two top governmental positions: Kumaratunga was elected president (with 62% of the vote) and appointed Sirimavo Bandaranaike prime minister. The women leaders of South Asian countries were often the widows or daughters of slain political leaders, and Kumaratunga was no exception. Not only her father, but also her husband, Vijaya Kumaratunga (whom she married Feb. 20, 1978), a film actor who had risen in politics, was assassinated (Feb. 16, 1988). Even her rival for the presidency was a widow - of Gamini Dissanayake, who was assassinated only weeks before the election by a suicide bomber, alleged to be a Tamil rebel. Kumaratunga herself was almost killed in an attack by a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber on the final day of campaigning for the presidential elections of 1999. He blew himself up just 5 metres from her at a rally in Colombo, killing more than 20 people and damaging her right eye, but she went on to be reelected to a second term as president.

Kumpilov

Kumpilov, Murat (Karalbiyevich) (b. Feb. 27, 1973, Adygey autonomous oblast, Russian S.F.S.R.), prime minister of Adygeya (2008- ).

Kun, Ruben (James T.) (b. March 30, 1942), president of Nauru (1996-97).

Kunayev, Dinmukhamed Akhmedovich (b. Jan. 12, 1912 [Dec. 31, 1911, Old Style], Verny, Russia [now Almaty, Kazakhstan] - d. Aug. 22, 1993, near Almaty, Kazakhstan), chairman of the Council of Ministers (1955-60, 1962-64) and first secretary of the Communist Party (1960-62, 1964-86) of the Kazakh S.S.R. He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1939. In 1942 he was named deputy chairman of the Kazakhstan Council of Ministers, in charge of the mining industry, and served in that post for a decade. An interest in metals research led to his appointment as president of the Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan (1952-55), and he was promoted to chairman of the republic's Council of Ministers in 1955, when Leonid Brezhnev was the republic's party leader. Kunayev first became party leader in 1960 but lost the post two years later when Nikita Khrushchev sought a scapegoat for poor performance in the virgin lands program, intended to increase wheat production. Kunayev returned to the job in 1964 after Brezhnev ousted Khrushchev as Soviet leader. He became a candidate member of the CPSU Politburo in 1966 and was elevated to full membership in 1971, serving until 1987. Although Kunayev's term was marked by autocratic ruthlessness and corruption, there were widespread protests when he was replaced in 1986. He was the highest-ranking Soviet leader of Muslim heritage.

Kunimatsu, Yoshitsugu (b. April 1, 1938), governor of Shiga (1998-2006).

Kunin

Kunin, Madeleine (May), née May (b. Sept. 28, 1933, Zürich, Switzerland), governor of Vermont (1985-91).

Kunitsyn, Serhiy Volodymyrovych (b. July 27, 1960), prime minister of Crimea (1998-2001, 2002-05).

Kuntunkununku II, Nana, original name Alexander Kwadwo Fredua Agyeman (b. Feb. 22, 1942, Asiakwa, Gold Coast [now Ghana] - d. March 17, 1999, Accra, Ghana), king of Akyem Abuakwa (1976-99). While a student in Accra, he attracted the attention of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president, whose regime sponsored him to study medicine abroad. On his return to Ghana, he worked at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and later at the Ridge hospital. He challenged, unsuccessfully, his own uncle, Kwabena Marfo, later Nana Ofori Atta III, for the right to succeed Ofori Atta II, who died in 1973. After his uncle died in 1976, he was installed as the 34th occupant of the Ofori Panin stool. He took the name Kuntunkununku, which was also the name of the very first Akyem king, Kuntunkununku I (1400). During his reign, he undertook a tour of all towns in the Akyem Abuakwa traditional area which was described as very successful. But it was his desire and effort to have the Kibi bauxite deposits exploited to provide employment to the people that will be remembered. He continued to practice after his enstoolment, and was able to make a start on the modernization of the government hospital at Kyebi. He was also a member of the Consultative Assembly which in 1992 drew up a new constitution for Ghana. Yet he remained every inch an African king in his ability to carry off ceremonial grandeur. When he visited London he would don clothes of the costliest silk, and deck himself with gold ornaments. He served two terms as president of the Eastern regional house of chiefs (1994-98) before his election as president of the National House of Chiefs in December 1998 and, ipso facto, becoming a member of the Council of State.

Künzi, Hans (b. Jan. 30, 1924, Olten, Aargau, Switzerland - d. Nov. 16, 2004, Zürich, Switzerland), president of the government of Zürich (1973-74, 1979-80, 1985-86, 1990-91).

Kuptsov, Gennady (Vasilyevich) (b. 1940), head of the administration of Lipetsk oblast (1991-92).

Kuranari, Tadashi (b. Aug. 31, 1918, Nagasaki, Japan - d. July 3, 1996), foreign minister of Japan (1986-87).

Kurasov, Vladimir (Vasilyevich) (b. July 7, 1897 - d. Nov. 29, 1973), Soviet high commissioner of Austria (1946-49).

Kuron

Kuron, Jacek (Jan) (b. March 3, 1934, Lwów, Poland [now Lviv, Ukraine] - d. June 17, 2004, Warsaw, Poland), Polish politician. In 1949 he joined the Communist-led Union of Polish Youth and in 1953 the Polish United Workers' Party (PUWP). A few months later he was thrown out of the party because he refused to confess to some ideological deviations and write his "auto-criticism." During the upheaval of October 1956, he was reinstated as a party member. In 1964 Kuron and his friend Karol Modzelewski wrote an open letter to party members in which they critically analyzed the PUWP's policy, proposing a revised definition of Marxist socialism. Both were dismissed from the party, charged with sedition, and sentenced to three years in prison. They were freed in May 1967 but were arrested again on March 8, 1968, as organizers of a mass meeting of students on the Warsaw university campus protesting against censorship and appealing for a genuine democratization of public life. For this they were sentenced to 3˝ years in prison. In 1975 Kuron was one of the authors of a manifesto signed by 59 intellectuals protesting against proposed amendments to the constitution that would further limit civil liberties. In June 1976, when thousands of workers went on strike in protest against drastic increases in food prices, Kuron stood at their side. He was instrumental in setting up the Workers' Defense Committee, a dissident group that helped found the Solidarity labour union. When in August 1980 Lech Walesa started to organize free trade unions under the "Solidarity" banner, he invited Kuron to be his political adviser. On Nov. 22, 1981, police raided Kuron's Warsaw home to break up a meeting that was planning to found a new opposition party. He was imprisoned until 1984. After the end of Communist rule he became labour minister (1989-90, 1992-93). In 1995 he was a presidential candidate, winning 9% of the vote.

Kurtesi, Ilijaz, Albanian Ilaz Kurteshi (b. March 15, 1927, Donje Ljubinje, near Prizren, Yugoslavia [now in Kosovo]), president of the Assembly (1969-74) and secretary of the Central Committee of the League of Communists (1983-84) of Kosovo and president of the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia (1985-86).

Kurtovic, Mustafa (b. 1951, Vranici village, near Gorazde, Bosnia and Hercegovina), premier of Bosnian Podrinje (2000-01).

Kuruneri, Chris(topher Tichaona) (b. April 4, 1949), finance minister of Zimbabwe (2004). He was arrested on April 24, 2004, on corruption charges arising from allegations he held scarce foreign currency outside the country.

Kussa

Kussa, Mussa (b. 1949?), foreign minister of Libya (2009- ).

Kusumaatmadja, Mochtar (b. Feb. 17, 1929, Batavia, Netherlands East Indies [now Jakarta, Indonesia]), foreign minister of Indonesia (1977-88).

Kutesa, Sam (Kahamba) (b. Feb. 1, 1949), foreign minister of Uganda (2005- ).

Kutuyev, Omurbek (Alymbekovich) (b. Jan. 17, 1951, Baygeldi village, Chu oblast, Kirgiz S.S.R.), interior minister of Kyrgyzstan (1996-2000).

Kuusinen

Kuusinen, Otto Vilgelmovich (Russian), Finnish Otto Ville Kuusinen (b. Oct. 4, 1881, Laukaa, Finland - d. May 17, 1964, Moscow, Russian S.F.S.R.), chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Karelo-Finnish S.S.R. (1940-56). In 1905 he joined the Social Democratic Party of Finland, then an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. He soon became head of the party's left revolutionary wing. After the Bolshevik revolution in Russia in 1917, he participated in the short-lived pro-Russian revolutionary government in southern Finland in early 1918, serving as minister of education. He fled to Russia in the same year, after the Finnish War of Independence had brought the socialist regime to an end, and helped found the Finnish Communist Party. Remaining in exile during the interwar years, he became a leading figure in the Comintern, serving as secretary in 1921-39. With the start of the "Winter War" (1939-40) between the U.S.S.R. and Finland, which had been assigned to the Russian sphere of influence in the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of 1939, Kuusinen was named head of a puppet Finnish socialist government. When the Soviet Union came to terms with Finland early in 1940, however, his government was quietly dissolved. He then headed the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic, which resulted from the union of Soviet eastern Karelia and Finnish western Karelia at the conclusion of the war in 1940. He kept the post until 1956, when the region was transformed into a lesser autonomous republic within the Russian S.F.S.R. From 1946 to 1953 and from 1957 until his death, he was secretary and a Presidium member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Kuuskoski, Reino (Iisakki) (b. Jan. 18, 1907, Loimaa, Finland - d. Jan. 27, 1965), justice minister (1953-54) and prime minister (1958) of Finland.

Kuwatli

Kuwatli, Shukri al-, also spelled Shukri al-Quwwatli (b. 1891, Damascus, Ottoman Empire [now in Syria] - d. June 30, 1967, Beirut, Lebanon), president of Syria (1943-49, 1955-58). He joined the Arab nationalist movement as a schoolboy. He became the chief figure in al-Arabiya al-Fatat, a clandestine Arab group, which led indirectly to his imprisonment. He became a member of King Faysal's Syrian government in 1919. When France took over Syria by mandate in 1920, he transferred his agitation from the Turks to the French. The first Syrian rebellion was suppressed in 1925, and he escaped with a death sentence over his head. He spent six years in exile before returning under an amnesty in 1931 to become a founder of the National Bloc. He entered parliament and was minister of defense and finance. He assumed leadership of the National Bloc in 1940 and in 1943 was elected president. After street fighting with French troops erupted in 1945, British troops stepped in and the evacuation of all foreign troops in 1946 marked the complete independence of Syria. In 1947 he enacted an amendment that removed a one-term limit from the constitution, and he was reelected by the Chamber of Deputies in April 1948. Discontent about the Israeli victory over Arab forces led to his overthrow by a military coup in March 1949. After a short imprisonment, he went into exile in Egypt. In August 1954 he returned and in August 1955, at the head of the National Party (the successor to the National Bloc), he was elected president again, though by then his post was largely ceremonial. His long-cherished dream of Arab union seemed to flower in 1958, when he and Pres. Gamal Abdel Nasser declared the merger of Egypt and Syria. He fell into disagreement with Nasser in 1959, however, and once again went into exile, where he remained until his death.

Kuyk, Johannes van (b. May 30, 1819, Delft, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands - d. May 27, 1885, Assen, Drenthe, Netherlands), king's commissioner of Drenthe (1875-85).

Kuzbari

Kuzbari, Maamun (Shafiq) al- (Ma´mun Shafiq al-Kuzbari) (b. 1914, Shagour neighbourhood, Damascus, Ottoman Empire [now in Syria] - d. March 2, 1998, Beirut, Lebanon), Syrian politician. In 1952, he was elected to the Syrian parliament, as deputy of Damascus, and elected speaker by the other deputies. One year later, there was a military coup and the parliament was dissolved. In 1954, he was acting head of state for two days after the overthrow of Adib al-Shishakli; new elections were held and he was once again elected as deputy. He also occupied various ministerial positions in different governments over a four-year span, including minister of justice, minister of education, and minister of labour and social affairs. In 1958 he was a member of the government that signed the union with Egypt, which gave birth to the United Arab Republic. After the military coup which broke the union with Egypt, he was called upon to form a government. The members of the government, which he headed, was mainly formed of technocrats and university professors. He also was at the same time the minister of foreign affairs and defense and acting head of state. He called for new elections two months after the formation of this government so that the democratic rule could be reestablished and the government would be legitimized by the people. In that election he was once again elected as deputy, and then also as speaker. In March 1962, a military coup occured that brought the Ba`th Party to power. He went into exile a year later in Morocco. He never came back to politics.

Kuzmanovic

Kuzmitsky

Kuzmanovic, Rajko (b. Dec. 1, 1931, Celinac, Yugoslavia [now in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Hercegovina]), president of the Republika Srpska (2007- ).

Kuzmitsky, Aleksey (Alekseyevich) (b. Aug. 5, 1967), acting governor of Kamchatka oblast (2007) and governor of Kamchatka kray (2007- ).

Kuzmuk, Oleksandr (Ivanovych) (b. April 17, 1954, Diatylivka village, Slavuta district, Khmelnitsky oblast, Ukrainian S.S.R.), defense minister of Ukraine (1996-2001, 2004-05).

Kuznetsov, Boris (Yuryevich) (b. Feb. 18, 1935), head of the administration of Perm oblast (1991-96).

L. Kuznetsov

Kuznetsov, Lev (Vladimirovich) (b. April 24, 1965, Moscow, Russian S.F.S.R.), governor of Krasnoyarsk kray (2010- ).

M. Kuznetsov

Vasily Kuznetsov

Kuznetsov, Mikhail (Varfolomeyevich) (b. Aug. 22, 1968), governor of Pskov oblast (2004-09).

Kuznetsov, Vasily (Vasilyevich) (b. Feb. 13 [Jan. 31, O.S.], 1901, Sofilovka, Kostroma province, Russia - d. June 5, 1990, Moscow, U.S.S.R.), first deputy chairman (1977-86) and acting chairman (1982-83, 1984, 1985) of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.

Kuznetsov, Vladimir (Sergeyevich) (b. 1954, Adler, Krasnodar kray, Russian S.F.S.R.), head of the administration of Primorsky kray (1991-93).

Kuznetsov, Yevgeny (Semyonovich) (b. Dec. 27, 1938 - d. Nov. 2, 2005), head of the administration of Stavropol kray (1991-95).

Kuznyatsou, Vyachaslau (Mikalayavich), Russian Vyacheslav (Nikolayevich) Kuznetsov (b. 1947), acting chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus (1994).

Kvashnin

Kvashnin, Anatoly (Vasilyevich) (b. Aug. 15, 1946, Ufa, Russian S.F.S.R.), plenipotentiary of the president in Sibirsky federal district (2004- ).

Kvasov, Vladimir (Petrovich) (b. Nov. 6, 1936), head of the Government Apparatus (chief of staff) of Russia (1993-94).

Kwankwaso, Rabiu Musa (b. 1957), governor of Kano (1999-2003) and defense minister of Nigeria (2003-06).

Kwartsz, Lindoro Cristoffel (b. July 27, 1873, Aruba - d. April 29, 1959, Oranjestad, Aruba), prime minister of the Netherlands Antilles (1949-51).

Kwasniewski

Kwasniewski, Aleksander (b. Nov. 15, 1954, Bialogard, northwestern Poland), president of Poland (1995-2005). He joined the Polish United Workers' Party (i.e., the Communist Party) in 1977 and moved to Warsaw to edit two of the party's youth newspapers - the weekly Itd ("Etc.") (1981-84) and the daily Sztandar Mlodych ("Youth Standard") (1984-85). He was member of the Council of Ministers for youth affairs (1985-87), chairman of the Committee for Youth and Physical Culture (1987-90), and head of the Council of Ministers Sociopolitical Committee (1988-89). He was invited to take part in the round-table discussions that resulted in the end of communist rule in the late 1980s, heading the committee that dealt with trade unions. In 1991 he co-founded a new party, the Democratic Left Alliance, which won a plurality of seats in the parliamentary elections of 1993. Subsequently, he formed a ruling coalition with the Polish Peasant Party, which was similarly composed of former communists. In the closing days of the 1995 presidential election campaign, he had to face widespread accusations of dishonesty for inaccurately reporting his wife's earnings and for falsely claiming to have received his college degree. In a narrow runoff victory that was seen by many as a political watershed, he dunked the sitting president and past reigning hero of Polish anticommunism, Lech Walesa, who had won the nation's first direct presidential election in 1990. He capitalized on the waning popularity of Walesa, but he pledged to continue with less austerity and dislocation Walesa's reform efforts toward a market economy and membership in NATO (achieved in 1999) and the European Union (2004). He was reelected in October 2000.

Kwong

Kwong, Normie, byname of Norman Lim Kwong, original name Lim Kwong Yew (b. Oct. 24, 1929, Calgary, Alberta), lieutenant governor of Alberta (2005- ). He was a famous football player dubbed the "China Clipper." He was named Canadian Athlete of the Year in 1955, was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1975, and was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1998.

Kyhn, Ludvig R. (b. Aug. 25, 1817, Eidsvold, Akershus county, Norway - d. Dec. 23, 1890, Hamar, Hedmark county, Norway), governor of Hedmark (1856-90).

Kyndiah

M. Kyprianou

Kyndiah, Paty Ripple (b. May 7, 1928, Shillong [now in Meghalaya], India), governor of Mizoram (1993-98).

Kyprianou, Markos (Spyrou) (b. Jan. 22, 1960, Limassol, Cyprus), finance minister (2003-04) and foreign minister (2008- ) of Cyprus; son of Spyros Kyprianou. He was Cyprus' first EU commissioner in 2004-08.

S. Kyprianou

Kyprianou, Spyros (Achilleos) (b. Oct. 28, 1932, Limassol, Cyprus - d. March 12, 2002, Nicosia), president of Cyprus (1977-88). He became a public relations officer for Makarios III, shortly after the latter's election in 1950 as archbishop of the Church of Cyprus and ethnarch (national leader) of the island's Greek people. When in August 1960 the Republic of Cyprus was established with Makarios as president, Kyprianou became foreign minister, an office he kept until May 1972, when he resigned at the insistence of Greece's military government. On Sept. 5, 1976, when the new House of Representatives was elected in the southern zone of Cyprus, the Democratic Front obtained 21 seats out of a total of 35, and Kyprianou was elected speaker. When Makarios died on Aug. 3, 1977, Kyprianou assumed the functions of acting president. It was Kyprianou who, on August 8, pronounced the moving funeral oration when the body of Makarios was buried on Throni, the highest peak of the Kykkos Mountains. On August 31 the House of Representatives unanimously elected Kyprianou president of Cyprus. He was returned unopposed on Jan. 16, 1978, for a five-year term. Kyprianou showed strength of mind in refusing the demands of EOKA-B, a clandestine extremist group, after its terrorists had kidnapped (Dec. 14, 1977) and threatened to kill his 19-year-old son Achilleas. Kyprianou said that he was prepared to sacrifice his son but never his country, and the son was released. Later he struck bloodlessly at continuing EOKA-B activity by jailing 22 of its ringleaders. He was reelected to another five-year term in February 1983. His presidency oversaw an economic boom in southern Cyprus, but there was no progress on reunification. In the February 1988 election, he was knocked out in the first round. He was again speaker of the House of Representatives in 1996-2001.

Kyungu wa Kumwanza, (Antoine) Gabriel, governor of Shaba (1991-95, 1997).