Xanana Gusmão became the first President of independent East Timor and then served as Prime Minister for seven years, until stepping down in 2015 to give room for a new generation. In 1999, Xanana Gusmão was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. He has also, amongst many other awards, been given the Sydney Peace Prize for being "Courageous and principled leader for the independence of the East Timorese people" and the North-South Prize by the Council of Europe. He has said:
‘Independence is like a blank piece of paper where we can write our dreams, and dream of happiness for our children’.
Did you know?
- Xanana began writing poems as a boy and won a national prize for poetry in 1975. He continued to write and also paint throughout his seven years in prison from 1992 to 1999.
- Fellow freedom fighter Nelson Mandela is an inspiration to Xanana, who says: 'His words that will always stay with me were that there is the need for dialogue and the need for tolerance.
- His given name is actually Kay Rala – Xanana is his nickname. It was taken from the name of the American rock and roll band Sha Na Na, who in turn were named after a lyric from a doo-wop song of 1957 by the band the Silhouettes.
Långgatan 13, 647 30, Mariefred, Sweden
Phone: +46-159-129 00 • info@worldschildrensprize.org
© 2020 World’s Children’s Prize Foundation. All rights reserved. WORLD'S CHILDREN'S PRIZE®, the Foundation's logo, WORLD'S CHILDREN'S PRIZE FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD®, WORLD'S CHILDREN'S PARLIAMENT®, WORLD'S CHILDREN'S OMBUDSMAN®, WORLD'S CHILDREN'S PRESS CONFERENCE® and YOU ME EQUAL RIGHTS are service marks of the Foundation.
