英语名人堂：马尔蒂·阿赫蒂萨里（在线收听）

马尔蒂·阿赫蒂萨里，芬兰前总统，2005年11月11日被任命为联合国科索沃问题谈判特使。因为他的卓越贡献，时常被视为诺贝尔和平奖的候选人。他于2008年获得由瑞典皇家科学院诺贝尔奖委员会颁发的2008年度诺贝尔和平奖），其颁奖词是：“因其在过去30多年来，横跨几大州，为解决国际间争端所发挥的重要作用。”

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 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.