Walter J. Lindner, born in Munich in 1956, is a diplomat, musician, lawyer and author. He began his diplomatic career in Bonn, Ankara and Managua in 1988, after studying law and taking a four-year trip around the world. He was then a counsellor at the German representation to the United Nations in New York, and later, press spokesman for Joschka Fischer and state secretary under Sigmar Gabriel. In Berlin, he headed, among other things, the crisis response centre, and was the director for African affairs as well as a special envoy of the German chancellor during the fight against the Ebola epidemic. He was the German ambassador in Kenya, Somalia, Venezuela and South Africa, before taking over as head of the embassy in India in 2019. He now works as an author and speaker, and devotes himself with passion to his second life as a pianist, composer and music producer. In March 2024, his book with co-author Heike Wolter, Der Alte Westen und der Neue Süden, was published to much acclaim.