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Annan was born to Henry Reginald and Victoria Annan on April 8, 1938, in Kumasi, Ghana. His given name means "born on a Friday". Annan was a twin, an occurrence that is regarded as special in Ghanaian culture; his twin sister Efua died in 1991.
Annan's family was part of the country's elite; both of his grandfathers and his uncle were tribal chiefs. His father was half Asante and half Fante; his mother was Fante. Annan's father worked for a long period as an export manager from the Lever Brothers cocoa company.
Annan is married to Nane Maria (Lagergren) Annan of Sweden, a lawyer and artist who is the half-niece of Raoul Wallenberg. The couple have three children.
Annan (left) with Robert MugabeRobert Gabriel Mugabe (born February 21, 1924) has been the head of government in Zimbabwe, first as Prime Minister and later as first executive President, since 1980. United Nations General Assembly on 10 September 2000, Mugabe defended his efforts to "r (right) From 1954Events January events January 14 The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator forming the American Motors Corporation January 14 Marilyn Monroe weds Joe DiMaggio. January 15 Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya January 20 The Nati to 1957Events January January 2 San Francisco and Los Angeles stock exchanges merge. January 3 Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch January 4 After 69 years the last issue of Colliers magazine is published January 5 Russell Endean becomes t, Annan attended the elite Mfantsipim School , a MethodistThe Methodist movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity. The Wesleyan revival The Methodist revival originated in England. It was started by John Wesley, his younger brother Charles and George Whitefield as a movement within the Chur boarding schoolA boarding school is a self-contained educational total institution where students not only study but where some or all students may live. Boarding school involves the combination of the residing of pupils at an institution away from their family and home in Cape CoastCape Coast or Cabo Corso is a city in Ghana, located by the Gulf of Guinea. From the 16th century the city has changed hands between the British, the Portuguese, the Swedish, the Danish and the Dutch. Located in the city is the Cape Coast Castle. founded in the 1870s. Annan has said that the school taught him "that suffering anywhere concerns people everywhere". In 1957, the year Annan graduated from Mfantsipim, Ghana became the second British colony in Africa (after South AfricaSouth Africa is a republic at the southern tip of Africa. It is bordered to the north by Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the north-east by Mozambique and Swaziland. Lesotho is contained entirely inside the borders of South Africa. South Africa is one o) to become independent.
In 1958Events January January 1 Treaty of Rome founding the EU is implemented January 4 Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit (launched on October 4 1957) January 8 14 year old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship January 18 Armed Lumbee Nat, Annan began studying for a degree in economics at the Kumasi College of Science and Technology, now the University of Science and Technology. He received a Ford Foundation grant, enabling him to complete his undergraduate studies at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States in 1961. Annan then studied at the Institute for Advanced International Studies (Institut universitaire des hautes études internationales) in Geneva, Switzerland, from 1961– 62, later attending the MIT Sloan School of Management ( 1971– 72) as a Sloan Fellow and receiving a Master of Science degree in management.
Annan is fluent in English, French, Fante and other dialects of Akan, and many other African languages.