Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has died at his Connecticut residence at the age of 100.

Numerous foreign news outlets reported the death on Thursday, local time, of the German-born Jewish refugee who fled to the U.S. with his family in 1938 to escape the Nazi regime and went on to be named National Security Advisor to U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1969.

Among his numerous accomplishments was a clandestine trip to China in 1971 to help set the stage for Nixon's historic visit to the communist country for talks with then-ruling Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong.

Kissinger is also credited with devising a détente strategy to ease growing hostilities with the Soviet Union and helping to negotiate a truce between Israel and Arab states following the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

Taking on the dual role of secretary of state in 1973, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize that same year for his role in efforts to negotiate an end to the Vietnam War.

An influential figure in U.S. foreign policy through the end of the Gerald Ford administration in the mid-1970s, Kissinger was also criticized for his secretive and controversial handling of the Vietnam War peace negotiations.