Winston Burdett
Burdett died Wednesday in Rome, where he lived for many years, said his son, Richard.
Burdett, who retired from CBS in 1978, had suffered from a long illness, but the cause of death was not immediately known.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., Burdett began his career in the 1930s as a film and theater critic for the Brooklyn Eagle. During World War II, he was a stringer for CBS radio and made his first broadcast from Stockholm in 1939.
While in Europe, Burdett was chosen by Edward R. Murrow to help cover the war for CBS. He broadcast from the Balkans, North Africa and Italy.
He returned to Italy in 1948 to cover the country's first postwar elections. In 1956, he took up residence in Rome as the chief European correspondent for CBS. During the next 22 years, he reported on four papal elections, dozens of governments and Red Brigade terrorist attacks.
He traveled frequently to the Middle East and India. In 1967, he covered the Arab-Israeli war from Cairo, Egypt, where he was one of the few American journalists reporting.
Burdett also was a scholar of Italian art and literature. When he died, he was writing a book on 19th century author Alessandro Manzoni.
Burdett is survived by his wife, Giorgina, and two children, Richard and Christina.
Funeral services were to be held in Rome on Saturday.
