英語名人堂：馬爾蒂·阿赫蒂薩里

馬爾蒂·阿赫蒂薩里，芬蘭前總統(tǒng)，2005年11月11日被任命為聯(lián)合國科索沃問題談判特使。因為他的卓越貢獻，時常被視為諾貝爾和平獎的候選人。他于2008年獲得由瑞典皇家科學院諾貝爾獎委員會頒發(fā)的2008年度諾貝爾和平獎)，其頒獎詞是：“因其在過去30多年來，橫跨幾大州，為解決國際間爭端所發(fā)揮的重要作用。”

Peace Prize winner and former Finnish President. He also won the 2008 UNESCO Peace Prize. Ahtisaari has spent much of his career in the world’s danger zones trying to bring peace to people at war. Ahtisaari started his career as a school teacher, which he says was good training for hisdiplomatic career.

Ahtisaari was born in 1937 in Finland. When he was a child, his home region was taken over by theSoviet Union. He and his family had to move many times. He said this experience gave him sympathy for displaced people. He became a teacher in 1959 and a year later started his travels. He took up a position in Pakistan to start a physical education school.

Ahtisaari returned to Finland in 1963 and became interested in developing countries. In 1965, he joined Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs. He was sent to Namibia in 1989 as the UN Special Representative to bring peace to the country. He achieved this and became an honorary Namibian citizen. Ahtisaari returned to Finland and served as president between 1994-2000.

Ahtisaari said his greatest triumph was bringing peace to Namibia. He also played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process, the Aceh region of Indonesia, and Kosovo. More recently, he hasmediated between different sides in Iraq. Ahtisaari is a strong believer that all countries can achieve peace. “Every conflict can be solved,” he said.