Backgrounder: Former UN chief Boutros Boutros-Ghali dies 94 in Egypt

Egyptian former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali died on Tuesday in a hospital in Giza at the age of 94, the official MENA news agency reported.

Born in 1922, the late top diplomat led the United Nations from 1992 until 1996, becoming the first Arab to hold the post.

After returning to Egypt, Boutros-Ghali headed the state's National Council for Human Rights under former long-time President Hosni Mubarak. Ghali resigned later in 2011, the year Mubarak was ousted by a popular protest.

When appointed by the UN General Assembly as the body's chief in 1991, Boutros-Ghali was also Egypt's Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs.

He served as Egyptian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 1977 to 1991, during which he became member of the International Law Commission.

Ghali was part of the secretariat of Mubarak's ruling party since 1980 until his appointment at the United Nations, then he became member of the Egyptian parliament in 1987.

In 1978, the diplomat attended Camp David summit and played a negotiating role in the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel reached later in 1979.

Boutros-Ghali was born on Nov. 14, 1922 in Beni Sweif province south of the capital Cairo. He graduated from Cairo University's Faculty of Law in 1946 and got his Ph.D. in international law from Sorbonne University in Paris in 1949.

From 1949 to 1977, Boutros-Ghali was professor of international law and international relations at Cairo University.

Meanwhile, he was a Fulbright research scholar at Columbia University from 1954 to 1955, director of the research center of the Hague Academy of International Law from 1963 to 1964 and visiting professor of the Sorbonne's Faculty of Law from 1967 to 1968.

Besides, he lectured on international law and international relations in the universities in Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America.

Leading the Egyptian state-run Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies from 1975, Boutros-Ghali was also member of leading international law institutes and academies in Hague, Paris and Rome.

Moreover, the diplomat served the Committee of the Application of Conventions and Recommendations of the International Labor Organization from 1971 to 1979.

He left a legacy of over 100 publications and articles on regional and international affairs, legal and diplomatic affairs and political science that entitled him a prominent scholar and a widely published author.

His students, now renowned diplomats, said that Boutros-Ghali was behind Egypt's moving east policy at a time the country greatly focused on its ties with the west, especially the United States.

"Boutros-Ghali was the first to instruct his students including myself about the necessity for Egypt's foreign policy to move east. He always said that China is the future of global politics and Egypt should be keen on maintaining the friendship with China," Egyptian former deputy foreign minister Ahmed al-Ghamrawi told Xinhua.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi also mourned the death of the diplomat and sent his sincere condolences to Ghali's family members, according to the official MENA news agency.

Boutros-Ghali's death was also announced by the UN Security Council President Rafael Ramirez during a meeting on Yemen's humanitarian crisis in New York. He asked the 15 members to stand up for a moment in silent tribute. Endit