Arnaud and Alexandra de Borchgrave Papers

Born on October 26, 1926, Arnaud de Borchgrave (1926-2015) was a longtime American journalist known for his extensive coverage of wars and events across the world and his numerous interviews with international leaders.

He was a CSIS Senior Adviser and Director of the Transnational Threats Project. A World War II D-Day veteran and award-winning former Senior Editor and Chief Foreign Correspondent of Newsweek, Arnaud de Borchgrave also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Washington Times and as President and CEO of UPI.

Born a count in Belgium, de Borchgrave moved with his family to England before Nazi Germany took control of his home country at the start of World War II. Count Baudouin de Borchgrave d'Altena, his father, was head of military intelligence for Belgium's government in exile in Britain during World War II. During that conflict, Arnaud lied about his age and joined the Royal Navy.

To become a United States citizen in 1951, Arnaud de Borchgrave gave up his aristocratic title. His reporting included seven tours of duty in Vietnam—from the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 through the fall of Saigon in 1975—and ground-breaking interviews including Charles De Gaulle, Pham van Dong, the Shah of Iran, Lee Kuan Yew, President Reagan, Saddam Hussein, Benazir Bhutto, and Muammar Gaddafi.

De Borchgrave pioneered dialogues between heads of state on opposite sides of explosive international issues by interviewing Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol in 1969, and in 1971 conducting back-to-back interviews with President Sadat and Prime Minister Golda Meir.

Arnaud de Borchgrave covered 17 wars during his lengthy career. He was embedded in U.S. contingents during the Vietnam War seven times, and he was wounded twice. In 1979-80, he covered the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and returned again in June 2001 to interview Taliban commander Mullah Omar.

His awards include Best Magazine Reporting from Abroad; Best Magazine Interpretation of Foreign Affairs and three New York Newspaper Guild Page One Awards for foreign reporting. In 1981, de Borchgrave received the World Business Council's Medal of Honor and in 1985, he was awarded the George Washington Medal of Honor for Excellence in Published Works. Mr. de Borchgrave co-authored with Robert Moss two novels: "The Spike" (1980) and "Monimbo" (1983).

King Baudouin of Belgium bestowed upon de Borchgrave the Commander of the Order of Leopold II in 1990, and in 2008 King Albert II awarded him the Commander of the Order of the Crown. In July 2014, de Borchgrave received the Legion of Honor from the President of France in recognition of his personal contribution to the liberation of France during the Second World War.

Arnaud de Borchgrave was educated at Maredsous in Belgium, at King’s School Canterbury in England, and Andover in the United States.

Mr. de Borchgrave was married to Alexandra Villard de Borchgrave (see below).

A daughter from his previous marriage, Trisha de Borchgrave, a writer and artist, is married to Sir Robin Niblett. They have two daughters, Marina and Saskia.

Arnaud de Borchgrave died on February 15, 2015, at the age of 88.

[Source: Information provided by Alexandra de Borchgrave, July 30, 2025.]

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Alexandra de Borchgrave is a photojournalist, author, and poet. She began her career as a photographer with the Gamma Agency in Paris. Her photographs have appeared on the covers of international publications including Newsweek and Paris Match, and her portraits of such notables as the late President George H. W. Bush, the late King Hussein, Dr. Henry Kissinger, and the late President Anwar Sadat have hung in government offices around the world.

When the Yom Kippur War broke out on October 6, 1973, she and her late husband, internationally renowned journalist Arnaud de Borchgrave, flew from London to Benghazi, then crossed the Libyan desert in a taxi to be among the first journalists to reach Cairo and cover the war.

She is the co-author of VILLARD: The Life and Times of an American Titan (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday), a biography of her great-grandfather, railroad magnate and financier Henry Villard, who masterminded the creation of General Electric. Alexandra is also the author of Healing Light, Heavenly Order, and Beloved Spirit (Glitterati Inc.); Love and Wisdom and Love and Peace (D Giles Ltd.); Healing Courage, To Catch a Thought, and Reveries; and co-author of Catch a Happy Thought (Light of Healing Hope Foundation).

Through her work as Founder and CEO of the Light of Healing Hope Foundation (501(c)(3)), Alexandra de Borchgrave made it possible for thousands of her books of hope to be gifted to patients facing the adversity of life in 108 hospitals and hospices worldwide.

Known for her evocative, illustrated presentations on art, photography, and healing, Alexandra has spoken at venues such as the Asia Society in New York and the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC. She has chaired events and served on committees for the American Ballet Theatre, Arts for the Aging, the Washington Opera, the Washington Ballet, and Meridian House. She was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Blair House Foundation in 1998.

Alexandra Villard de Borchgrave was born in Washington, DC, the daughter of former United States Ambassador and Mrs. Henry Serrano Villard and spent most of her formative years living abroad in Norway, Libya, Switzerland, Senegal, and France. She was educated at the Brearley School in New York, the Potomac School in McLean, Brillantmont in Lausanne, and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in Political Science. She also attended the Islamic Institute at the Sorbonne. In Paris, she met her husband, Arnaud de Borchgrave, with whom she shared a lifelong commitment to international journalism and humanitarian service.

[Source: Information provided by Alexandra de Borchgrave, July 30, 2025.]