On behalf of the InterAction Council (a group of former heads of state and government), we have the honour to express our sincere condolences and deep felt sympathy to you and the people of Germany upon the passing away of former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.
Helmut Schmidt, former Chairman and co-founder of the InterAction Council, one of the most popular, respected and revered politicians of our times, is gone. The world has lost the most political of intellectuals and the most intellectual of politicians who, throughout his long and extraordinary career, united politics and thought, action and reflection.
Throughout his many years at the helm of the Council, we were privileged to admire his achievements and the breadth of his knowledge, which extended from economics to philosophy, from history to literature. Most important of all, however, was the way he exercised his leadership and his vision of the world. In joining Marcus Aurelius, we wish Helmut Schmidt will now have plentiful time to “watch the stars and see himself running with them.”