Donald Mayer Blinken (November 11, 1925 – September 22, 2022) was an American businessman and diplomat. A co-founder of the private equity firm

Warburg Pincus Warburg Pincus LLC is a global private equity firm, headquartered in New York City, with offices in the United States, Europe, Brazil, China, Southeast Asia and India. Warburg has been a private equity investor since 1966. As of April 2024 the f ...

, he was the chairman of the board of the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

from 1978 to 1990. He also served as the

United States Ambassador to Hungary This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Hungary. Until 1867 Hungary had been part of the Austrian Empire, when the empire became Austria-Hungary. Hungary had no separate diplomatic relations with other nations. The United States h ...

from 1994 to 1997. His son,

Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 71st United States secretary of state from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor, deputy national security advisor ...

, was the seventy-first United States Secretary of State, having served in the cabinet of President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

Early life and education

Donald Mayer Blinken was born on November 11, 1925, in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

, the son of Maurice Blinken and his wife, Ethel (Horowitz). Maurice Blinken was an early backer of Israel and founded the American Palestine Institute which helped persuade the United States to back the creation of Israel. His father and mother were of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

descent and his father was from

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, who, according to Antony Blinken, "fled pogroms in Russia". His grandfather was author Meir Blinken. Blinken has two brothers,

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

and Robert. The brothers grew up both in New York City and Yonkers. They attended the

Horace Mann School Horace Mann School (also known as Horace Mann or HM) is an American private, independent college-preparatory school in the Bronx, founded in 1887. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, educating students from the New Yo ...

. Blinken graduated ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in economics from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1948, after serving in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1944.

Career, Philanthropy, and Public Service

In 1966, Blinken co-founded E. M. Warburg Pincus & Company, a private equity firm in New York. He served as a director for Warburg Pincus, and served as chairman of the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

. Blinken met

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko ( ; Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz until 1940; September 25, 1903February 25, 1970) was an American abstract art, abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular reg ...

in 1956 and became an art collector. He was president of the Mark Rothko Foundation from 1976 to 1989. In 1984, the foundation distributed 1,000 art pieces to museums, including to the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

., where Blinken was a member of the trustee council. Among his other philanthropic commitments, Blinken served as president of the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...

from 1970 to 1976; as executive committee member for the New York Public Library; as board member and chairman of the ''

Commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

'' Publication Committee (which at the time was a part of the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...

); and as vice-chairman of the New York Philharmonic Symphony Society. Blinken was appointed to the board of trustees for the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Hugh Carey Hugh Leo Carey (April 11, 1919 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and attorney of the Democratic Party who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1961 to 1974 and as the 51st governor of New York from 1975 to 1982. Early ...

in September 1976 and was appointed the board's chairman in 1978. The board clashed with Governor

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo ( , ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

as Cuomo wanted the board to cut spending. Blinken announced his resignation from the board in October 1989, which took effect with the confirmation of his successor in 1990. During the

presidency of Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter's tenure as the 39th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. Carter, a Democrat from Georgia, took office following his narrow victory over Republican incu ...

, Blinken served on a special nomination panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals. In 1994,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

nominated Blinken to be the

. He was confirmed by the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

and served in the role until 1997. From 2000 to 2004, Blinken was the secretary-general of the

World Federation of United Nations Associations The World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) (French: ''Fédération Mondiale des Associations pour les Nations Unies'', FMANU) was founded in 1946 as a Federation of national associations. Its objectives are to promote the values ...

Personal life

Blinken lived in the River House and in

East Hampton, New York East Hampton is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York United States. It is located at the eastern end of the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town i ...

. Blinken was married to Judith Frehm from 1958 until their divorce in 1971, and then married Vera Evans in 1975. Vera was a

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, its collaborators before and during World War II ...

in Hungary during World War II; in 2009, the couple published a memoir about her escape from Communist Hungary and their time back in Hungary during his term as the U.S. Ambassador. In 2015, the Open Society Archives in Hungary was renamed the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives after receiving a major donation from the couple. His son,

, from his first marriage, was the

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

in the

presidency of Joe Biden Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, a member of the Democr ...

. Blinken died in East Hampton on September 22, 2022, at age 96.

References

External links

Donald M. Blinken Papers, 1969–2003
M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany,

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Blinken, Donald 1925 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American diplomats Ambassadors of the United States to Hungary American art collectors American company founders American investment bankers American people of German-Jewish descent American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Blinken family Businesspeople from New York City Harvard College alumni Horace Mann School alumni Military personnel from New York (state) New York (state) Democrats People from East Hampton (town), New York People from Manhattan People from Yonkers, New York United States Army personnel of World War II Warburg Pincus people