Elie Wiesel
United Nations Messenger of Peace Elie Wiesel speaks to the press after addressing the United Nations Security Council on Darfur on 14 September 2006. Photo Credit: UN Photo/ Paulo Filgueiras
Born in the Transylvania town of Sighet, Elie Wiesel was 15 years old when he and his family were deported to Auschwitz. This Holocaust survivor, Nobel Laureate, writer and human rights activist has served as a United Nations Messenger of Peace since 1998. Mr. Wiesel has lent his compassionate voice to a variety of United Nations causes, such as focusing public attention on eradicating poverty and the atrocities occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan. A U.S. citizen since 1963, he continues to be a vocal advocate of human rights and world peace through The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.