Gaston Egmond Thorn was a Luxembourgish politician who served in a number of high-profile positions, both domestically and internationally. Amongst the posts that he held were the 20th prime minister of Luxembourg (1974–1979), President of the United Nations General Assembly (1975), and the seventh president of the European Commission (1981–1985).

The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly.