Former UN chief and Nobel peace laureate Kofi Annan died Saturday at the age of 80, his foundation announced, prompting a barrage of grief-stricken tributes from around the world. The Ghanaian national, who lived in Switzerland, was a career diplomat who projected quiet charisma and was widely credited for raising the world body’s profile in global politics during his two terms as UN chief from 1997 to 2006. The first secretary general from sub-Saharan Africa, Annan led the United Nations through the divisive years of the Iraq war and was later accused of corruption in the oil-for-food scandal, one of the most trying times of his tenure.
