Walter Schwimmer

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Walter Schwimmer (born 16 June 1942) is a politician and diplomat from Austria. After being a member of the Austrian Parliament (National Council) for 28 years, serving as chairperson of several committees (Justice, Health, Housing and Construction)and deputy leader of his political group (ÖVP - Austrian People's Party), he was elected secretary general of the Council of Europe. His term of office was from September 1, 1999 until September 1, 2004. In June 2004 his attempt to be elected to a second five-year term as secretary general failed, like all his predecessors of whom no one was reelected. Currently he works as Consultant for International Relations and European Affairs. He sits on the board of the Crans Montana Forum and is (honorary) Secretary General of the Maison de la Méditerranée/Fondazione Mediterraneo (Napels) and Chairman of the International Coordination Committee of the World Public Forum - Dialogue of Civilisations.

Books: Der Traum Europa, Springer-Verlag 2003, Heidelberg, translated into Russian: МЕЧТЫ Ы ЕВРОПЕ, Olma Press, Moscow 2003; English: The European Dream Continuum London 2004; Italian: Sognare l'Europa, Sapere 2000, Rome 2004; Serbian: San Evropa, Biblioteca Diplomatija, Belgrade 2004.

Preceded by Daniel Tarschys

Secretary General of the Council of Europe 1 September 1999 - 31 August 2004

Succeeded by Terry Davis

Walter Schwimmer of Chicago was a pioneer television producer, making The Cisco Kid in the early 1950s. A visionary, Schwimmer produced Cisco Kid episodes in color, although there were no color sets in existence at tat time. It was thought that the CBS color technology was going to be adopted by the FCC and Schwimmer and distributor Frederic Ziv wanted o get a leg up on the competition. The series has lived in syndication for more than 50 yers, and is currently featured on broadband television network TV4U.Com. Schwimmer was also a pioneer in the game show and sports TV syndication business. He produced the highly popyuklar All Star Golf, All Star Bowling, and All Star Racing shows on the sports front. His game shows, which involved local station participation, included Quick Movie Quiz and Post Time at the Races. In 1961 he produced Championship Bridge with Charles Goren. After his TV syndication career waned, Walter Schwimmer turned to Boadway, where he produced The Right Honorable Gentleman, which earned a Tony Awarn nomination for Best Play in 1966.