Time Person of the Year 2022

Time Person of the Year, a yearly title awarded to the most influential subject throughout the 12 months of that year ever since 1927. I say subject as Time magazine does not always award this title to a person. For instance, in 1982 it was awarded to the personal computer and in 2011 it was awarded to the archetype of “the protestor”.¹

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the word influence means: “to affect or change how someone or something develops, behaves, or thinks”². In line with this definition, Time’s former Managing Editor Walter Isaacson stated, in 1998, that the title was given to: “the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year, for better or for worse”.

It is important to take this quote into consideration when learning who was nominated Person of the Year. 1938 marked a controversial nomination as Hitler was selected as Time Person of the Year, since up until that time, people viewed Time Person of the Year as a celebration of a positively influential person or thing. For example, Mahatma Gandhi in 1930 and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932.³

Time magazine explained that “Hitler became, in 1938, the greatest threatening force that the democratic, freedom-loving world faces today”. They claimed that Hitler was also the most influential person of 1938, whilst his influence was overtly negative, and that him and his actions were the most common topics in the media during those 12 months.¹

This year, Time magazine highlighted both a person and an idea as the Time Person of the Year 2022: Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine; and “the Spirit of Ukraine”. Here is the story of why President Zelensky and “the Spirit of Ukraine” were awarded this title.

On the 260th day of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army left Kherson city, the only regional capital which had been taken over by Russia. Against all security precautions, President Zelensky left the very next day to the city of Kherson as he knew that, because of the brutal attacks, the city had been left with no power, no water, and no heat. There were many suspicions that there were still active mines and undercover Russian soldiers who planned to assassinate Volodymyr Zelensky, however, he felt it was important he showed support for his people.⁴

When travelling to Kherson the President explained that: “[The Ukrainian people] are going to fall into a depression now, and it will be very hard. As I see it, it is my duty to go there and show them that Ukraine has returned, that it supports them. Maybe it will give them enough of a boost to last a few more days. But I am not sure. I do not lull myself with such illusions.”⁴

Time magazine claims that “Volodymyr Zelensky galvanized the world in a way we haven’t seen in decades.” He did not flee his country, instead, he stood by his people and “the Spirit of Ukraine.” He was a part of many dangerous protests both in person and through the media and made daily speeches to everyone in the world expressing the concern he had for Ukraine’s safety.⁵

Volodymyr Zelensky and “the Spirit of Ukraine” were what caused 141 countries around the globe to condemn the invasion. It was his passion and global interaction, which put him in a lot of danger, that meant that major companies pulled out of any imports or exports with Russia and that massive medical, material, financial and humanitarian support came to Ukraine’s rescue. Time magazine also expressed how “ “The Spirit of Ukraine” was embodied by countless individuals inside and outside the country ”.⁵

Therefore, Volodymyr Zelensky and “the Spirit of Ukraine” were nominated as Time Person of the Year 2022, although it does raise the question of whether Volodymyr Zelensky’s positive actions were more influential to the media and the world in general than Vladimir Putin’s incredibly impactful actions and beliefs. Although highly controversial, would it have been more correct for Putin’s face to be the one representing Time Person of the Year 2022 instead of Volodymyr Zelensky, similarly to Hitler almost a century ago; or did Time magazine make the right decision on “who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year, for better or for worse”?

Bibliography

(Cover Picture) Radford, Antoinette. “Volodymyr Zelensky Is Time Magazine’s 2022 Person of the Year.” BBC News, BBC News, 7 Dec. 2022, www.bbc.com/news/world-63890775.

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Reference 1: Staff, TIME. “Everything You Need to Know about TIME’s Person of the Year.” Time, Time, 7 Dec. 2016, time.com/4586372/time-person-of-the-year-facts/.

‌Reference 2: Cambridge Dictionary. “Influence.” @CambridgeWords, 7 Dec. 2022, dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/influence.

Reference 3: Wikipedia Contributors. “Time Person of the Year.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Dec. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Person_of_the_Year.

Reference 4: “Volodymyr Zelensky Is TIME’s 2022 Person of the Year.” Time, 2022, time.com/person-of-the-year-2022-volodymyr-zelensky/.

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Reference 5: “Why TIME Chose Volodymyr Zelensky and the Spirit of Ukraine as the 2022 Person of the Year.” Time, 2022, time.com/person-of-the-year-2022-volodymyr-zelensky-ukraine-choice/.