Kofi Annan

Born: April 8th, 1938; Kumasi, Ghana.

Education: Degree (economics), Macalester College, St Paul, Minnesota; Graduate Studies, Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales, Geneva, Switzerland; MS (management), Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Married: Nane Lagergren; 1 son, 2 daughters.

Early career: Born into prominent family of Ghana's Fante people; spent two years in mid-1970s running Ghana's national tourism development.

UN career: Joined in early 1970s. Positions include: assistant secretary-general for programme-planning, budget and finance; head of human resources and security co-ordinator; director of the budget; chief of personnel for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees; administrative officer of the Economic Commission for Africa; under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations; Secretary-General.