Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary-General, has died at the age of 80.

The official Twitter account of the United Nations Migration Agency revealed the news of Annan’s death early Saturday:

Today we mourn the loss of a great man, a leader, and a visionary: former UN Secretary General KofiAnnan.
A life well lived. A life worth celebrating.

He “passed away peacefully on Saturday after a short illness”, the foundation named after him said on Saturday.

Annan was the first black African to take up the role of the world’s top diplomat, serving from 1997 to 2006.

He later served as the UN special envoy for Syria, leading efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

In a statement announcing his death, the Kofi Annan Foundation described him as a “global statesman and deeply committed internationalist who fought throughout his life for a fairer and more peaceful world”.

Annan’s tenure as UN secretary-general coincided with the Iraq War and the HIV/Aids pandemic.

He is remembered by the Greeks of Greece and Cyprus as well as the Turkish-Cypriots for the Annan Plan in 2004 which was an unsuccessful attempt to resolve the Cyprus dispute. The plan was approved by the Turkish-Cypriots and rejected by the Greek-Cypriots as it was adopting almost the total of the Turkish demands and practicaly none of the Greek side.

Source: huffingtonpost, bbc