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Jan Kenneth Eliasson,born 17 September 1940, is a Swedish diplomat and the current President of the United Nations General Assembly.
Jan Eliasson was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He was an exchange student in Indiana 1957-1958 and graduated from the Swedish Naval Academy in 1962. In 1965 he earned a Master's degree in Economics from the Gothenburg School of Economics and Commercial Law. He also holds honorary degrees from American University (1994) and Gothenburg University (2001).
Eliasson started his diplomatic career in 1965, when he was employed at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 1982-1983 he served as Diplomatic Advisor to the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, and 1983-1987 as Director General for Political Affairs in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
1980-1986 Eliasson was part of the U.N. mission, mediating in the Iran-Iraq War. 1988-1992 he served as Sweden's Ambassador to the United Nations in New York, where he also served as the Secretary General's Personal Representative on Iran/Iraq.
On 27 March 2006 he was announced as the next Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs to succeed Laila Freivalds. Eliasson will take office 24 April 2006.
