Kofi Annan

7th Secretary-General of the United Nations (1938-2018)

  • Fame82.1
  • Momentum2.3
  • Politicians rank#77
Source-basedStable
  • Fame82.1
  • Momentum2.3
  • Politicians rank#77
  • Wikipedia52.4K
Lived 1938–2018, aged 80
PoliticiansPublic Official
  • Wikipedia
    140 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Era
    1938–2018
    Aged 80
  • Known for
    The Corporation
    2003
Summary
Updated 2026-08-14

He rose through the UN's own ranks to lead it — the first secretary-general elected from inside the institution — then shared a Nobel Prize with the organization itself in 2001. After two terms steering reforms and launching the Global Compact, he kept working conflict zones until frustration ended his Syria mission in 2012.

Biography

About

Kofi Atta Annan joined the United Nations in 1962 as a staffer for the World Health Organization in Geneva and spent three decades moving through its hierarchy, including a stint as under-secretary-general for peacekeeping from 1992 to 1996. On 13 December 1996 the Security Council appointed him seventh secretary-general, making him the first to come from the UN staff itself; he won re-election in 2001 and left office in 2007. During those years he reformed the bureaucracy, fought HIV/AIDS in Africa, and launched the Global Compact, though he drew criticism for not expanding the Security Counc…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Kofi Annan

Kofi Annan
said
I think that my darkest moment was the Iraq war, and the fact that we could not stop it.. I worked very hard — I was working the phone, talking to leaders around the world...
Quoted in Kofi Annan, former UN secretary general, dies aged 80 (CNBC) (18 August 2018)
Kofi Annan
said
Eradication of extreme poverty has been identified as a priority, and specific targets have been set for prescribed measures.
Address given at the United Nation's General Assembly Millennium Summit (8 September 2000)
Kofi Annan
said
You have said that your first priority is the eradication of extreme poverty.
So spoke United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on September 8, 2000, to an assembly of the world’s most powerful men and women. WOL
Kofi Annan
said
More than ever before in human history, we share a common destiny. We can master it only if we face it together. And that, my friends, is why we have the United Nations.
Message for the new millennium (31 December 1999)
Kofi Annan
said
Unless the Security Council is restored to its pre-eminent position as the sole source of legitimacy on the use of force, we are on a dangerous path to anarchy.
Speech at the centennial of the International Peace Conference (19 May 1999)
By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Stable
82.1
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum2.3
Historical25.9
Now attention14.4
Source confidence85.0
Completeness80.0
Global rank
Country rank
Category rank
#77
Receipts

Sources

  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence