Woman Of The World

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Nane Annan watched last Friday with mixed emotions as the United Nations General Assembly unanimously elected her husband, Kofi Annan, to a second five-year term as Secretary-General. The Swedish-born lawyer turned artist has made no secret of her concern that the U.N.'s demanding top job has taken a toll on her husband but, she says, "in spite of the heavy responsibilities, he seems to be thriving, and I did support him in making himself available for a second term." Annan is painfully aware of the steep price that a life devoted to public service can command. Her uncle, Raoul Wallenberg, the diplomat who saved the lives of thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary, disappeared in 1944, the year she was born. Although she never knew him, "the absence of Raoul was always present in my life," she says. "His last letter from Budapest was to congratulate my mother, his sister, on my birth."

As the U.N.'s first lady, Annan has no official role within the organization, but she travels the world with her husband and, she says, "making visible what the U.N. is doing around the world is deeply gratifying." Among the issues she has focused her attention on is the education of children, in particular girls. "Of over 100 million children not in school," she says, "two-thirds of them are girls." The proceeds from a book she has written to introduce children to the U.N. go to benefit UNICEF, the U.N. children's fund.

Annan's own privileged childhood as a member of one of Sweden's most prominent families helped prepare her for the peripatetic life she now leads. Her father is an international judge, and the family lived in Sweden, France, Italy and Morocco. She practiced law for 16 years, serving as an associate judge in Sweden and later as a legal officer with the UNHCR in Geneva, but in recent years has focused on art. "To start painting was not an easy choice," she says, "but it was a privilege to immerse myself in something that I loved." The depth of her feelings for Kofi — the marriage is a second one for both — is unmistakable. Last week, at the U.N.'s headquarters in New York, as the world watched a statesman basking in the acclaim of the international community, Nane Annan's thoughts were intensely personal. "I thought of that moment when we first met 20 years ago in Geneva."


Q&A

Q: You've made the education of girls a priority. You yourself hold a law degree but no longer practice law. Do you feel any guilt about not putting your credentials to full use?
A: I practiced law for about 16 years, so I feel I have paid my dues. The issue of girls' education is close to my heart. In developed countries, girls' education is about realizing ourselves. In other parts of the world, it is about survival — physical, economic and political. The recent AIDS conference at the U.N. reminded us that women and children disproportionately bear the burden of the disease.

Q: You worked on legislative projects in Sweden related to immigration and discrimination. Do you feel that advances have been made in this regard?
A: The Swedish Commission on Ethnic Prejudice and Discrimination for which I worked in the late '70s was set up as a response to discrimination. This is certainly something all of us need to work more on and why the upcoming U.N. Conference on racism, which will be held in South Africa in September, is of such significance.

Q: Why did you decide to become a full-time artist?
A: Painting and an interest in art were always part of my life growing up. I drew during breaks, at weekends, sometimes even at night.

Q: How has your husband's popularity affected your private lives?
A: One of the reasons I did support him in his decision to make himself available for a second term was seeing people's reaction to him. It may be the truck driver who drove past us yesterday leaning out of his window or the homeless man we met in Central Park last week who shook his hand. Is it also the countless letters from people around the world putting their trust in him.