Ukrainian President Is Time Magazine's 2022 Person Of The Year
Time Magazine has named Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and “the spirit of Ukraine” as its 2022 Person of the Year.
The award goes to an event or person deemed to have had the most influence on global events over the past 12 months, reported BBC News.
The magazine’s editor, Edward Felsenthal, said the decision was “the most clear-cut in memory”. He wrote:
In a world that had come to be defined by its divisiveness, there was a coming together around this cause, around this country.
Felsenthal added that the “spirit of Ukraine” referred to Ukrainians around the world, including many who “fought behind the scenes”.
The magazine said Zelensky had inspired Ukrainians and was recognised internationally for his courage in resisting the Russian invasion. It said:
Zelensky’s success as a wartime leader has relied on the fact that courage is contagious.
Previous winners over the past decade
- 2021 – Elon Musk
- 2020 – Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
- 2019 – Greta Thunberg
- 2018 – “The Guardians”, a group of journalists including Jamal Khashoggi
- 2017 – “The silence breakers”, the women who started the #MeToo movement
- 2016 – Donald Trump
- 2015 – Angela Merkel
- 2014 – “Ebola Fighters”, medics who fought to contain the outbreak in Africa
- 2013 – Pope Francis
- 2012 – Barack Obama
