Social Democrat Schmidt who served as West German Chancellor from 1974 to 1982 passed away at the age of 96, according to his Hamburg office.

According to reports, Schmidt caught an infection after having surgery to remove a blood clot from his leg about two months ago.

Helmut Schmidt was seen as one of the most popular leaders. In Germany he was admired for his unwavering principles and abroad as a pioneer of international economic cooperation.

Schmidt was consistently critical of developments in the EU, the feasibility of a multicultural Germany and the Bundeswehr’s mission in Afghanistan. He had also criticized the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, during the debt crisis of the euro zone for lacking financial savvy.

Helmut Schmidt earned the respect of many Germanys mainly because of the way he handled the infamous ‘German Autumn’ in late 1977, when West Germany was terrorized by the left-wing urban guerrillas of the Red Army Faction (RAF) and especially when he refused to meet with their demands, when they had kidnapped industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer and hijacked the Lufthansa airplane Landshut.

He was the biggest supporter of Greece joining European Economic Community and was close friend of Konstantinos Karamanlis.

Schmidt had also served as finance minister from 1972 to 1974 and he took over as chancellor after his SPD ally Willy Brandt resigned when it was revealed that his close aide Guenter Guillaume was an East German spy.

Schmidt was succeeded by conservative chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Helmut Schmidt was a co-publisher of the liberal weekly Die Zeit, and continued to being involved in international economic debate in later life.