Volodymyr Zelensky was the ‘clear-cut’ choice, says the magazine’s editor
(Picture: Ukrainian presidential press office/PA Media)President Volodymyr Zelensky and “the spirit of Ukraine" have been named Time magazine’s 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.
Other finalists included protesters in Iran, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and the US Supreme Court.
The magazine’s editor said the decision was “the most clear-cut in memory".
“In a world that had come to be defined by its divisiveness, there was a coming together around this cause, around this country," Edward Felsenthal wrote.
Mr Zelensky has led his country through the war with Russia following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
But controversial past winners of the award, including Adolf Hitler in 1938 and Vladimir Putin himself in 2007, have left many wondering how Time’s person of the year is chosen.
How is Time Person of the Year chosen?
Time magazine has chosen a Person of the Year since 1927.
The magazine grants the title, which isn’t necessarily an award, to the person or group it deems the most influential in the past 12 months.
Despite the name, the title is not just granted to individuals. It can be a person, group, idea or thing that “for better or for worse … has done the most to influence the events of the year".
The distinction was originally called Man of the Year.
Who were the other 2022 finalists?
There were several candidates being considered for 2022, including President Xi, US politician Liz Cheney and billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.
The US Supreme Court, protesters in Iran, gun safety advocates as well as Florida governor Ron DeSantis and US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen also made the list.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and now the owner of Twitter, was handed the title last year, and was on the shortlist again in 2022.
Actress Michelle Yeoh was named Icon of the Year 2022 yesterday as the magazine celebrated her 40-year career, including Everything Everywhere All At Once, tipped to be an Oscar favourite.
Surprising past winners
Politicians, business titans, activists and religious leaders are among those who’ve been declared Time’s Person of the Year. Here are a few of the most surprising:
Adolf Hitler – 1938
Undoubtedly Time magazine’s most controversial selection, the choice to make Adolf Hitler person of the year in 1938 has long provoked disbelief among those who aren’t aware of the outlet’s morally neutral criteria for selection.
He was selected because of his influence in Europe, and the magazine was vehement in its condemnation. The cover of the issue depicted the dictator playing a gothic organ draped with dead bodies, while the article poured scorn on the “horrified and apparently impotent world” for allowing Hitler to re-establish Germany as a military power.
Joseph Stalin – 1939 and 1942
Stalin was twice named person of the year, firstly in 1939 for signing a non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. The magazine wrote that he “not only sacrificed the good will of thousands of people the world over sympathetic to the ideals of Socialism, he matched himself with Adolf Hitler as the world’s most hated man.”
In 1942, the magazine praised the Soviet dictator for standing resolute against Hitler in what the magazine described as the “year of blood and strength”.
Ayatollah Khomeini – 1979
Khomeini was the central figure in the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, which saw a pro-Western government ousted and involved the Iran Hostage Crisis at the US embassy in Tehran.
In November 1979, Khomeini condoned Iranian students who seized the US embassy in Iran and took the staff hostage. The 52 American hostages were ultimately held in captivity for 444 days.
Writing on the decision to name Khomeini Person of the Year in early 1980, Time said, "The lean figure of Khomeini towered malignly over the globe. As the leader of Iran's revolution he gave the 20th-century world a frightening lesson in the shattering power of irrationality, of the ease with which terrorism can be adopted as government policy."
Vladimir Putin – 2007
Time magazine named Russian President Vladimir Putin its “Person of the Year” for 2007 on Wednesday, saying he had returned his country from chaos to “the table of world power” though at a cost to democratic principles.
“He’s not a good guy, but he’s done extraordinary things,” said Time managing editor Richard Stengel.
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
