Finnish Nobel Peace Laureate Martti Ahtisaari Dies at 86

Facts

• Martti Ahtisaari, Finland's 10th president (between 1994 and 2000) and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, passed away on Monday at the age of 86, according to a statement from the office of the Finnish president.¹
• Finnish President Sauli Niinistö announced the death of his predecessor during a live broadcast on national broadcaster YLE. 'It is with great sadness that we have received the news of the death of President Martti Ahtisaari,' Niinistö said.²
• Ahtisaari was born in the now-Russian town of Viipuri in Finland's east. Initially a teacher, he entered Finland's foreign ministry in 1965; he spent about 20 years overseas, serving as ambassador to Tanzania, Zambia, and Somalia before becoming the senior UN diplomat in New York and, later, Finnish president.³
• Ahtisaari received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 for his efforts in resolving international conflicts on multiple continents. He was essential to Namibia's 1989-1990 independence, served as an arbiter in Kosovo in 1999 and 2005-2007, and helped bring the protracted conflict in Indonesia's Aceh region to an end in 2005.⁴
• After his presidential term, Ahtisaari founded the non-profit Crisis Management Initiative, which uses informal dialogue and mediation to prevent and resolve violent conflicts. When accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, Ahtisaari said: 'Peace is a question of will. All conflicts can be settled, and there are no excuses for allowing them to become eternal.'¹
• Ahtisaari had been battling Alzheimer’s disease. He is survived by his wife Eeva and their son.⁵

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²Associated Press, ³Euronews, ⁴News and ⁵Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The Sydney Morning Herald. President Martti Ahtisaari was a champion of peace, security, and conflict prevention. He brokered peace around the globe. During his Nobel lecture, he talked about how inextricable the Middle East conflict seemed because religions are often used as a weapon or instrument for prolonging conflicts. The news of his death comes at a time when the world needs visionaries like him more than ever.
• Narrative B, as provided by Washington Post. Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari was successful in brokering peace in various parts of the world but never in the Middle East. The current Israeli-Palestinian crisis shows how different it is from other conflicts. Ahtisaari said, 'Peace is a question of will.' But what do you do when there is no will? Ahtisaari's legacy is an inspiration but also a sad mirror for society about opportunities lost for lasting conflict resolution.