各国名人英文介绍-Ahtisaari（在线收听）

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 his diplomatic career.

Ahtisaari was born in 1937 in Finland. When he was a child, his home region was taken over by the Soviet 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 has mediated between different sides in Iraq. Ahtisaari is a strong believer that all countries can achieve peace. “Every conflict can be solved,” he said.