Success 2013: John "Jack" Charlton, English former footballer that was part of the England team who won the 1966 World Cup

John "Jack" Charlton, OBE, DL (born 8 May 1935) is an English former footballer and manager who played for Leeds United in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and was part of the England team who won the 1966 World Cup. He is the brother of former Manchester United and England footballer Sir Bobby Charlton.
Charlton was a part of the successful Leeds United side of the 1960s and 1970s, winning a league championship (1969), an FA Cup (1972), a League Cup (1968) and two Fairs Cups (1968 and 1971) and made a club record 773 appearances. He won 35 England caps and played in every game of the successful 1966 World Cup campaign. In 2006, Leeds United supporters voted Charlton into the club's greatest ever XI.
Charlton later became a manager of both domestic and international sides. In his first season as a manager, he led Middlesbrough to the Second Division title, for which he was voted Manager of the Year in 1974. He later took charge of the Republic of Ireland national team, and led them to their first ever World Cup in 1990, where they reached the quarter-finals.

Born into a footballing family in Ashington, Northumberland, Charlton was initially overshadowed by his younger brother Bobby, who was taken on by Manchester United while Jack was doing his National Service with the Household Cavalry. His uncles were Jack Milburn (Leeds United and Bradford City), George Milburn (Leeds United and Chesterfield), Jim Milburn (Leeds United and Bradford Park Avenue) and Stan Milburn (Chesterfield, Leicester City and Rochdale), and legendary Newcastle United and England footballer Jackie Milburn was his mother's cousin.
After quitting a job in a coal mine, Charlton applied to join the police, but was then offered a trial by Leeds United after they had spotted him playing as a central defender in an amateur match. The trial game clashed with his police interview, and Charlton chose to play in the game. He impressed enough to be offered an apprenticeship with Leeds, and then signed professional terms in 1952. Charlton played in the Leeds senior team for the first time in April 1953 and within another two years was a regular fixture in the side, built around John Charles. Under Raich Carter, Leeds won promotion to the First Division in 1956, before suffering relegation in 1960. Jack Taylor replaced Carter as manager but he was fired in March 1961 and replaced by Don Revie. In 1963 Revie agreed to sell Charlton but interested clubs – including Liverpool and Manchester United – could not match Leeds' asking price. Ultimately, they settled their differences, and Revie built the Leeds defence around Charlton.
Charlton was joined at centre back in 1962 by Norman Hunter, a product of the youth policy. Other youth team players such as Peter Lorimer, Paul Reaney and Billy Bremner also came into the side and Leeds won promotion back to the First Division in 1964. Leeds made an immediate impact on their first season back in the top flight; they were runners up in the league, losing the title to Manchester United on goal average, and were beaten 2–1 by Liverpool in the FA Cup final. Charlton, operating as an emergency striker, set up Bremner's goal for Leeds.

International recognition and a World Cup winner's medal
 
With Charlton approaching his 30th birthday, he was called up by Alf Ramsey to play for England against Scotland at Wembley. The game ended 2–2 and Charlton was impressive enough to keep his place. With England hosting the 1966 World Cup in just over 12 months' time, the incentive to stay in the side was obvious.
Ramsey chopped and changed other areas of his team as the World Cup neared, but Charlton's defensive partnership with captain Bobby Moore remained a constant fixture. Charlton got his first England goal in a pre-tournament victory over Denmark before Ramsey confirmed his squad of 22 players for the finals. Charlton was in the squad, and was given the No. 5 shirt, an indication that if fit he would be the first choice partner for Moore.
England drew their opening group game against Uruguay 0–0, but progressed to the knock-out stages after victories against Mexico and France. The latter game finished 2–0 with Roger Hunt getting both England goals, one of which came after Charlton, venturing forward to add height to the attack, hit the post with a header. England eliminated Argentina in the quarter finals, taking them to a semi final against Portugal.
Charlton had his work cut out keeping Portugal's Torres quiet, with the centre forward winning his fair share of aerial duels. However, his brother Bobby scored twice to give England a commanding lead, before Eusébio scored a late penalty after Charlton had handled a shot on the goal-line. England clung on and reached the final, where they would play West Germany.
In the final, England beat West Germany 4–2 after extra time to win the World Cup. One of the most memorable images at the final whistle was the sight of Charlton, at 31 the second oldest member of the team, sinking to his knees with his face in his hands, weeping with joy.

Leeds United: trophies and near misses
 
In 1967 Charlton had a mixed time. Leeds missed out on domestic honours again and Charlton picked up an injury while playing for England in April in a 3–2 defeat to Scotland at Wembley, during which he scored. However, he ended the season as the Footballer Of The Year and his future after football as an after-dinner speaker was marked by his speech at the awards ceremony, which earned him a standing ovation.
Charlton finally won domestic honours with Leeds in 1968 with a controversial League Cup victory over Arsenal – the Arsenal players claimed that Charlton had committed a foul in their penalty area prior to the ball reaching Terry Cooper, who scored the only goal. Leeds also won the Fairs Cup and Charlton completed the year by playing his 447th League game, breaking the club's previous record for appearances.
In 1969, Leeds finally got their hands on the League championship, with Charlton proving a rock at the back as the team lost just two games all season. A year later, Leeds went for the unprecedented treble of League title, FA Cup and European Cup – and missed out on all three. Everton pipped Leeds to the title, Celtic beat them in the semi finals of the European Cup, and Leeds lost the FA Cup final to Chelsea after a replay, after a pressured Charlton had unwittingly back-headed a long throw across his own area, allowing David Webb to score Chelsea's winner. Charlton was so angry that he did not collect his runners-up medal afterwards. He had earlier scored Leeds' opening goal in the original tie.
In the summer of 1970, Ramsey named Charlton in his squad of 22 for the 1970 World Cup. However, Charlton was not Moore's first choice partner, with Everton's Brian Labone getting the nod after a sturdy series of displays during the European Championships two years earlier. Charlton played his 35th and final England game in the 1–0 group win over Czechoslovakia. He scored six goals in those 35 appearances.




England lost in the quarter finals to West Germany, and on the flight home, Charlton asked Ramsey not to be considered for international duty again. Charlton agonised over how to break the news to Ramsey. Eventually, he walked down the aisle, sat down next to Ramsey and said: "Great times … absolute privilege … getting older … slowing down … not sure I am up to it any more … time to step down." Ramsey listened, then agreed with him. "Yes, I had reached that conclusion myself."
Charlton's brother Bobby also asked Ramsey not to consider him again for the England team during the same flight. Neither would play for England ever again.

Twilight honours at Leeds
 
In October 1970, Charlton famously appeared on a Tyne Tees football programme, where he said he'd once had a "little black book" of names of players whom he intended to hurt or exact some form of revenge upon during his playing days. He later said this was a figure of speech and that no such book existed.
Leeds won the Fairs Cup again in 1971, but lost the league championship to Arsenal. In 1972, Leeds finally won the FA Cup and Charlton completed his set of domestic medals. Although he continued playing, he suffered an injury in an FA Cup semi final in 1973 which ruled him out for the rest of the season. He battled to be fit for the 1973 FA Cup Final but failed, and consequently chose to retire from playing. He was 38 and had 774 club appearances and 96 goals to his name.


Republic of Ireland
 
Charlton spent a brief time outside of football before being approached by the FAI to manage the Republic of Ireland. Ireland had a particularly strong squad at the time, with players of the calibre of Liam Brady, Ronnie Whelan, Kevin Moran, Mark Lawrenson, Chris Hughton, Paul McGrath and David O'Leary, but had never qualified for a major tournament. In May 1986, Ireland won the Iceland Triangular Tournament in Iceland in Charlton's fourth game in charge.
Ireland qualified for the 1988 European Championships in Germany, and were drawn against England, the Soviet Union and the Netherlands in their group.
An early Houghton goal in Ireland's opening game against England was enough to clinch a 1–0 win. Ireland subsequently drew 1–1 with the Soviets but went out of the competition when they lost 1–0 to the Dutch. Charlton then received the runner-up prize in the World Soccer Manager of the Year awards in 1988.
Ireland qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 1990, where they were drawn against England, Egypt and The Netherlands. The Irish qualified from the group stage despite failing to win any of their 3 group games. They drew 1–1, 0–0 and 1–1 against the English, Egyptians and Dutch respectively.^[4][5][6]
They defeated Romania in the second round match which went to penalties after a 0–0 draw, before meeting Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.^[7] Charlton admitted that at one point during the service he actually fell asleep because of the heat and having to sit in the one spot for a long time.
Ireland eventually went out to the hosts, Italy 1–0 in the quarter final.^[8][9] Over 500,000 fans lined the streets of Dublin to welcome the team home from their first World Cup campaign.
Ireland failed to reach the Euro 92, despite going through qualification unbeaten. The team qualified for the 1994 World Cup in the U.S., and beat Italy 1–0 in the first round. During Ireland's next game, against Mexico, Charlton had a pitch-side argument with a linesman who was preventing substitute John Aldridge from taking the pitch. Mexico went on to win 2–1. Charlton was later fined, although he claimed in his autobiography that he never actually paid the fine, and was suspended for the final group match in New York. He watched from the stands as Ireland drew 0–0 to Norway, thus qualifying for the second round. In their next game, Ireland were eliminated from the competition after losing 2–0 to the Netherlands.
Charlton was awarded the freedom of the city of Dublin in 1994 by Lord Mayor Tomás Mac Giolla.
Ireland failed to qualify for Euro 96, despite a strong start to the group, when they won their opening three games, including a 4–0 win against Northern Ireland. The Republic's next game was also against Northern Ireland, although the result was a 1–1 draw. From that point onwards the Republic stuttered badly; after beating the highly fancied Portuguese, the Irish then endured an embarrassing 0–0 draw to Liechtenstein, before losing twice to Austria, on both occasions by three goals to one. Although they defeated Latvia, Ireland needed to beat Portugal in Lisbon to qualify outright, but lost 3–0. In an emotionally charged play off at Anfield against the Netherlands, Ireland lost 2–0.
Charlton resigned shortly after the game. During his reign Ireland peaked at #6 in the FIFA World Rankings and defeated nearly all the major football nations, including Brazil, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, the USSR and England. By his own choice, Charlton's involvement in football since then has been limited to punditry and speaking.

Bob and Mike Bryan, professional tennis double players. They are the 2012 Gold Medalists in the London Summer Olympics. World No. 1 doubles players for over 297 weeks, longer than anyone else in doubles history

Twin brothers Robert Charles Bryan (Bob) and Michael Carl Bryan (Mike) are American professional tennis double players. They are the 2012 Gold Medalists in the London Summer Olympics for Men's Doubles. They have been the World No. 1 doubles players for over 297 weeks (as of July 4, 2012), which is longer than anyone else in doubles history. Also, they have finished the ATP year-end number 1 doubles team a record 7 times. Between 2005 and 2006, they set an Open Era record by competing in seven consecutive men's doubles Grand Slam finals, three of which they won. On August 11, 2011, they recorded their Open Era record 700th match win by defeating Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco in the second round of the 2011 Rogers Cup.
Born on April 29, 1978, with Mike being older by two minutes, and Bob taller by 3 cm, The Bryans, as they are known, have won a record 78 tour titles surpassing The Woodies, and have been finalists on 44 other occasions. They have a career Grand Slam that includes victories at the French Open (2003), US Open (2005, 2008 and 2010), Australian Open (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011), and Wimbledon (2006, 2011). They won the Tennis Masters Cup doubles tournament three times (2003, 2004 and 2009). They won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They also won the 2007 Davis Cup along with Andy Roddick and James Blake. The Bryan Brothers were named ATP Team of the Decade for 2000–2009.
The twins are part of the United States Davis Cup team, with a 18–2 record in doubles matches. Their two losses were to Croatia's Ivan Ljubičić and Mario Ančić and, in 2008, to France's Arnaud Clément and Michaël Llodra. Both brothers have played Davis Cup singles matches (Bob is 4–2 and Mike is 0–1).
The brothers, who both use single-handed backhands, are noted for their attacking style of play and great hustle. They are also well known for celebrating winning points by chest bumping each other. Mike and Bob are featured on the cover of the January/February 2010 issue of Making Music Magazine where there is an article about their experiences and passion for recreational music.
Though famous for their tennis and their music, they are also dedicated to helping children in need through their foundation, The Bryan Bros. Foundation.

2012

The Bryans started 2012 by participating at the 2012 Apia International Sydney where they reached the final. They went on to win the final by defeating wild cards Matthew Ebden and Jarkko Nieminen to claim their second title in Sydney and their 76th overall without dropping a set. The brothers then aimed to win their sixth Australian Open and reached their eighth final at the event after three consecutive three-setters which included saving a match point and overcoming a 2–5 deficit in the final set tie-break in an epic semi-final against Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecău. However, the Bryans played Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek in the final and were upset in straight sets.
They were forced to withdraw from Indian Wells at the quarter-final stage with illness and were beaten in Miami at the semi-final stage by Paes and Stepanek for the second time in 2012. They skipped Houston despite being the defending champions and instead secured a doubles rubber point in the USA-France Davis Cup tie at Monte-Carlo by defeating Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra. They then went on to win their 20th Masters 1000 title and 77th title overall at Monte Carlo without dropping a set. They had thrashed Paes and Stepanek in the quarter-finals and comfortably beaten Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor in the final. However, their momentum was halted at the 2012 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell where they once again withdrew during the tournament with illness. They took to the new blue clay of the Madrid Masters as the defending champions but lost early. Their next tournament was the Rome Masters, where they lost in the quarter-finals. Keen to regain some momentum, the Bryans played the 2012 Open de Nice Côte d’Azur – Doubles tournament which they won for the first time by beating Oliver Marach and Filip Polasek in the final. It was their 78th title and third of the year. They then enjoyed a good run at the 2012 French Open before losing in the final to Mirnyi and Nestor.
They immediately found form on the grass, reaching the final at the Queen's Club. However, they failed to defend their title and were beaten again by Mirnyi and Nestor. They reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon but, after a close match, were defeated in a tiebreak by eventual first-time wildcard titlists Jonathan Marray and Frederik Nielsen. 

2012 Olympics

They returned to Wimbledon for the Summer Olympics Tennis Tournament. They beat Bellucci/Sa of Brazil 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 in the first round, Davydenko/Youzhny of Russia 7-6, 7-6 in the second round, Erlich/Ram of Israel 7-6, 7-6 in the quarter-finals and Benneteau/Gasquet of France 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals. They then entered the Gold Medal Match assured of at least a silver medal, but they topped Llodra/Tsonga of France 6-4, 7-6 to win the Olympic Gold Medal on August 4, 2012. It was a double gold day for the United States since Serena Williams took the Olympic Gold Medal in Women's Singles.
This completed the career Golden Slam in Mens Doubles for the Bryan Brothers having won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open and the Olympic Gold Meal.
This also tied them with Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver at having 79 doubles titles. 

Personal life

In their early days as junior players, they were forbidden to play each other in tournament play by their parents. If they were to play each other in a tournament, they would alternate defaulting to each other.
The brothers graduated from Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard in 1996 and attended Stanford University (1996–98). In 1998, Bob became the first player since Alex O'Brien in 1992 to win college's 'Triple Crown' of NCAA singles, doubles (with Mike) and team titles. Both Bob and Mike are members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.


The Bryans have a penchant for music, forming a band of their own, with Mike playing on the drums (and occasionally guitar), Bob on the keyboard, and father Wayne on the guitar. Fellow tennis players and friends Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish and Jan-Michael Gambill often join in. The band has played at several special events, including the ATP Tour Smash Tennis event at New York's Central Park before the 1995 US Open. The Bryan brothers were featured on the Jan/Feb 2010 cover of Making Music Magazine.
In December 2010, Bob married Florida attorney and longtime family friend Michelle Alvarez. They now reside in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida.

Success 2013: Josef Masopust, a Czechoslovak former football player and coach. He was named European Footballer of the Year in 1962

Josef Masopust (born 9 February 1931 in Střimice near Most) is a Czechoslovak former football player and coach. He was named European Footballer of the Year in 1962. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of the Czech Republic by the Football Association of the Czech Republic as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. He played as midfielder and was an indispensable player for Czechoslovakia. He capped 63 times, scoring 10 goals for his country.
He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

In 1962, Masopust led the Czechoslovakia team that reached the 1962 FIFA World Cup final, losing to Brazil. He scored in the Final and Czechoslovakia took the lead, Brazil however came back to win 3-1. Because of his performance at the World Cup Finals, he was named European Footballer of the Year in 1962. Overall, he was capped 63 times for his country, scoring ten goals (he also played in the 1958 FIFA World Cup). In Europe, he took Czechoslovakia to third place at the 1960 UEFA European Football Championship.



Masopust's first club was lowly ZSJ Uhlomost Most, but ZSJ Technomat Teplice (renamed to ZSJ Vodotechna Teplice in 1951) signed him as a 19-year-old left-half and gave him his top-flight debut. Then, in 1952, he joined a Czechoslovak Armed Forces football club under name of ATK Praha (renamed to ÚDA Praha in 1953 and to Dukla Prague in Winter 1956). They won eight league championships. When he eventually went abroad in 1968, he helped Crossing Molenbeek win promotion to the Belgian first division as player-coach. His coaching career continued at Dukla, yet his greatest achievement on the bench was winning the Czech league with Zbrojovka Brno in 1978. Later, in 1984-88, he led the Czechoslovakian national football team before a spell in Indonesia where coached their national football junior team between 1988 and 1991.

Masopust was in a similar mould to that of the Magyar Bozsik; a workhorse of a team, who toiled away in obscurity crafting and building fresh attacks for the front line. Masopust though was not devoid of technical abilities and could 'play the violin and do the dishes'. He Possessed exemplary ball control, his transmission with ball on foot through the field was clinical, which he utilized for both; basic work, from the recovery of the ball in defense, to driving menacingly through the opposition in what was termed 'Masopust's slalom'. During these solo runs Masopust would seamlessly switch between both feet, easily jinking to the left and right but always moving forward.


Like Bozsik, Masopust as well was a marvellous passer, and was able to pick out teammates with both strength and precision. The only flaw in his capabilities came from his physical weakness due to his medium build, but he made up for this deficit with massive reserves of stamina and pace, allowing him to be a tireless engine in the centre of the field.
Shackled by Czechoslovakia's 'no-risk' style philosophy, Masopust's natural inclination for attack was limited, yet he still managed 10 goals in 63 caps for his country. At club level he scored 79 times in 386 appearances for Dukla Praha.

Succes 2013: Mircea Vintilă, celebru interpret român de muzică folk

Mircea Vintilă este un interpret român de muzică folk, cu o activitate discografică și concertistică bogată. Cântecele sale debordează de melodicitate și o atenție deosebită acordată "vorbelor". De la „Lordul John” la „Dramă de cartier”, fanii au savurat o listă întreagă de adevărate hituri.

Vintilă s-a născut pe 23 martie 1949 la București și a fost interesat de muzică din copilărie. A urmat Școala de Muzică (clasa violă). A terminat „Liceul Lazăr” și apoi a absolvit Institutul de Construcții în anul 1974. A cântat alături de alți prestigioși artiști (Mircea Florian, Marcela Saftiuc, Doru Stănculescu) la primul festival studențesc de folk din anul 1971, la clubul „303” al Politehnicii bucureștene, apoi la clubul „Universitas”, la „Casa de Cultură a Studenților” și în Cenaclul Flacăra. La a doua ediție a Festivalului "Primăvara baladelor" câștiga „Marele Premiu” cu piesa "Lordul John". Cu piesa "Bade Ioane" câștigă premiul „Teletop” al Televiziunii Române, iar cu piesa "Făt Frumos" caștigă premiul Uniunii Compozitorilor și Muzicologilor din România.
A editat primul disc single, Pământul deocamdată – Mielul, în anul 1974. În 1975 lansează un alt disc single, Hanul lui Manuc – Bade Ioane. Urmează primul LP de mare succes in 1976, intitulat Crezul meu, o parte din piese fiind orchestrate de Dan Andrei Aldea.

În 1982 urmează un alt LP Peripeții noi și apoi, în 1986, un alt album, intitulat Mircea Vintilă. (Titlul original era Se retrage la Vatra Luminoasă, dar nu a fost acceptat.) În perioada 1978-1984 au fost editate două compilații folk pe care apare în total cu patru piese. În 1990 primește Marele Premiu pentru întreaga Activitate în cadrul Festivalului Național de Muzică Folk "Om bun". Urmează o serie de turnee in Austria, Franța, Germania, Rusia și Slovacia. Susține spectacolul "Față în față cu lumea" la Teatrul „Bulandra”, alături de Florian Pittiș, cu care în anul 1992 editează albumul Nu trântiți ușa. La acest album colaborează pentru prima dată cu Mircea Baniciu și Vlady Cnejevici, care s-au implicat ca orchestratori în realizarea materialului.
În 1992 fondează împreună cu Mircea Baniciu, Florian Pittiș și Vlady Cnejevici grupul Pasărea Colibri, desfășurînd o prestigioasă activitate discografică și de turneu în țară și străinătate (SUA, Canada, Germania).

În octombrie 2000, Mircea Vintilă lansează sub marca Roton albumul “Madama de pică”, primul proiect solo după o perioadă în care a activat mai mult împreună cu Pasărea Colibri. Albumul include doar piese noi, cu un sound remarcabil, la care și-au adus contribuția artiști de marcă: Mugurel Vrabete, în calitate de producător executiv, Horia Stoicanu - co-autor, Gheorghe Emanuel - programare și claviaturi, Relu Bitulescu - percuție, Eugen Caminschi - chitară, Marius Bațu - chitară acustică și backing vocal, Mugurel Vrabete - bass. Primul single extras, "Noros Cecer", beneficiază de un superb videoclip. „Madama de pică” a fost declarat "cel mai bun album folk al anului 2000", iar videoclipul piesei „Noros Cecer” a luat premiul pentru "Cel mai bun videoclip al anului", decernat de Uniunea Artiștilor Profesioniști din Televiziune.

Trei ani de pauză discografică au însemnat destule schimbări. În primul rând - despărțirea, în vara anului 2003 - de „Pasărea Colibri”, alături de care a mai lansat în acest interval două LP-uri - „Încă 2000 De Ani” (2001) și „10 Ani” (2003) -, ambele la Roton. În plus, Vintilă a semnat un contract cu o nouă casă de discuri, părăsind Roton-ul pentru Intercont Music. O altă noutate o reprezintă Trupa “Brambura”, care îl acompaniază pe muzician in concerte, dar și pe noul material. Grupul este compus din instrumentiști de valoare: Eugen Caminschi (chitară), Gelu Ionescu (claviaturi), Vadim Tichișan (tobe), Cătălin Crețeanu (bas), Elena Pavel și Andrada Popa (backing vocal).

În albumul Toți într-o Barcă, Mircea Vintilă continuă colaborarea cu Horia Stoicanu, alături de care a înființat în anul 2000, după spusele sale, un „comando muzical” prin care cei doi au dorit să „debarce în forță pe plaja de manele”. Ca urmare, dintre cele 10 piese care fac parte din acest disc, cinci sunt creditate tandemului Vintilă - Stoicanu, iar încă două sunt semnate individual de cei doi. Restul aparțin lui Eugen Caminschi și lui Iulian Vrabete.
În general, este un album mai mult îndreptat spre pop-rock ca de obicei; Toți într-o barcă surprinde prin prospețimea pieselor și prezentarea acestora.

Pe 14 decembrie 2005, Mircea Vintilă a lansat albumul Opere & operete, produs de Intercont Music și Fundația „Mircea Vintilă”, album ce conține 13 piese,

adevărate hituri lansate de solist de-a lungul anilor („Pământul deocamdată”, „Cu tine prin New-York”, „Miruna”, „Făt Frumos”, „Bade Ioane” etc.), și o piesă nouă, inedită, care constituie o mare supriză, datorită accentelor ei hip-hop, „Dramă de cartier”.
Piesele mai vechi incluse în acest best of au fost rearanjate orchestral și aduse, ca sound, la standardele anului 2005.

Matti Ahtisaari, the tenth President of Finland. Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator

Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (born 23 June 1937) is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland (1994–2000), Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work.

Ahtisaari was a UN Special Envoy at the Kosovo status process negotiations, aimed at resolving a long-running dispute in Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. In October 2008, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for his efforts on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts" The Nobel statement said that Ahtisaari has played a prominent role in resolving many conflicts in Namibia, Indonesia, Kosovo and Iraq, among other areas.

Martti Ahtisaari was born in Viipuri, Finland (now Vyborg, Russia). His father, Oiva Ahtisaari (whose grandfather Julius Marenius Adolfsen had emigrated with his parents to Finland in 1872 from Tistedalen in southern Norway) took Finnish citizenship in 1929 and changed his surname from Adolfsen in 1937. The Continuation War (World War II) took Martti's father to the Eastern Front as an NCO army mechanic, while his mother, Tyyne, moved to Kuopio with her son to escape immediate danger from the war.[4] Kuopio was where Ahtisaari spent most of his childhood, eventually attending the Kuopion Lyseo high school.

In 1952, Martti Ahtisaari moved to Oulu with his family to seek employment. There he continued his education in a well-known high school "Oulun Lyseo" (among its former students are two other presidents of Finland: Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg and Kyösti Kallio), graduating in 1952. He also joined the local YMCA. After completing his military service (Ahtisaari holds the rank of captain in the Finnish Army Reserve), he began to study through a distance-learning course at Oulu teachers' college. He was able to live at home while attending the two-year course which enabled him to qualify as a primary-school teacher in 1959. Besides his native language, Finnish, Ahtisaari speaks Swedish, French, English, and German.

In 1960, he moved to Karachi, Pakistan, to lead the YMCA's physical education training establishment, where he became accustomed to a more international environment. In addition to managing the students' home, Ahtisaari's job involved training teachers. He returned to Finland in 1963, and became active in non-governmental organizations responsible for aid to developing countries. He joined the international students' organization AIESEC, where he discovered new passions about diversity and diplomacy. In 1965, he joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in its Bureau for International Development Aid, eventually becoming the assistant head of the department. In 1968, he married Eeva Irmeli Hyvärinen (1936–). The couple has one son, Marko Ahtisaari, a noted musician and producer.

Ahtisaari's presidential campaign in Finland began when he was still a member of the council dealing with Bosnia. Finland's ongoing recession caused established political figures to lose public support, and the presidential elections were now direct, instead of being conducted through an electoral college. In 1993, Ahtisaari accepted the candidacy of the Social Democratic Party. His politically untarnished image was a major factor in the election, as was his vision of Finland as an active participant in international affairs.

Ahtisaari narrowly won over his second round opponent, Elisabeth Rehn of the Swedish People's Party. During the campaign, there were rumours spread by some political opponents of Ahtisaari that he had a drinking problem or that he had knowingly accepted a double salary from the Finnish Foreign Ministry and from the United Nations while trying to negotiate an end to the Bosnian War. Ahtisaari denied both allegations and no firm proof of them has emerged. During the three-week campaign between the two rounds of presidential elections, Ahtisaari was praised by his supporters for being more compassionate towards the many unemployed Finns than Rehn, who as Defence Minister had to officially support the Aho government's strict economic policies. A minor scandal arose during a town hall-style presidential debate in Lappeenranta, southeastern Finland, when an apparently born-again Christian woman in the audience asked Rehn what her relationship with Jesus was. Rehn replied that she had personally no proof that Jesus had been a historical person. Ahtisaari ducked a precise answer by stating that he trusted the Lutheran confession even on this issue.

His term as president began with a schism within the Centre Party government led by prime minister Esko Aho, who did not approve of Ahtisaari's being actively involved in foreign policy. There was also some controversy over Ahtisaari's speaking out on domestic issues such as unemployment. He travelled extensively in Finland and abroad, and was nicknamed "Matka-Mara" ("Travel-Mara," Mara being a common diminutive form of Martti). His monthly travels throughout the country and his meetings with ordinary citizens (the so-called maakuntamatkat or "provincial trips") nonetheless greatly enhanced his political popularity. Ahtisaari kept his campaign promise to visit one Finnish historical province every month during his presidency. He also donated some thousands of Finnish marks per month to the unemployed people's organizations, and a few thousand Finnish marks to the Christian social organization of the late lay preacher and social worker Veikko Hursti.

Ahtisaari favoured pluralism and religious tolerance publicly. Privately, he and his wife practice their Christian faith. Contrary to some of his predecessors and his successor as the Finnish President, Ahtisaari ended all of his New Year's speeches by wishing the Finnish people God's blessing.

In January 1998 Ahtisaari was criticized by some NGOs, politicians and notable cultural figures because he awarded medals of honour to the Forest Minister of Indonesia and to the main owner of the Indonesian RGM Company, a parent company of the April Company. The April Company was criticized by non-governmental organizations for destroying rain forests, and Indonesia itself was criticized heavily for human right violations, especially in East Timor. Ahtisaari's party chairman Erkki Tuomioja said that giving medals was questionable since he feared the act may tarnish the public image of Finnish human rights policy. Students of the arts had demonstrations in Helsinki against the decision to give medals.

President Ahtisaari supported Finland's entry into the European Union, and in a 1994 referendum, 57 percent of Finnish voters were in favour of EU membership. During Ahtisaari's term as president, Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton met in Helsinki. He also negotiated alongside Viktor Chernomyrdin with Slobodan Milošević to end the fighting in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo in 1999.

Often encountering resistance from the Finnish parliament, which preferred a more cautious foreign policy, as well as from within his own party, Ahtisaari did not seek re-election in 2000. He wanted the Social Democrats to re-nominate him for the presidency without opposition, but two opponents signed up for the party's presidential primary. Ahtisaari was the last "strong president", since the 2000 constitution slightly reduced the president's powers. He was succeeded by the foreign minister Tarja Halonen.