Person of the Century
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Time Person of the Century was created to honor one of the Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century. On December 31, 1999, the magazine published a special edition of its magazine naming Albert Einstein as "Person of the Century". Because the editors of TIME believed the twentieth century would be remembered most for its advances in science and technology, they thought Einstein would serve as a symbol for the scientists Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, Richard Feynman, and Stephen Hawking and the others who have built upon his work.[1]
The cover of the magazine featured the 1947 image of Einstein taken by American portrait photographer Philippe Halsman. It was during this photo session that Einstein spoke to Halsman of his despair over how his special theory of relativity and letter to Roosevelt led to the creation of the atomic bomb. It was at this point of immense sadness for Einstein that Halsman took the picture.[2]
The runners-up for Person of the Century were Franklin D. Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi."[3]
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[edit] Adolf Hitler
It appears that TIME originally chose Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany, as Person of the Century, but decided to give it to Einstein because of the controversy that ensued when word leaked out (consisting in part of many threats to cancel subscriptions if Hitler were given the distinction and his image put on the cover of the magazine.)
In 1979 TIME named Ruhollah Khomeini as Man of the Year, which generated massive public backlash.[4] Since then TIME has avoided naming anti-Americans Person of the Year. However, controversy arose when Rudolph Giuliani was declared Person of the Year 2001 over Osama Bin Laden. In the same issue, there was an article that mentioned TIME's earlier decision to make Ayatollah Khomeini as Man of the Year in 1979 and the 1999 rejection of Hitler as Person of the Century.
[edit] See also
- Time Person of the Year
- The Time 100. Time magazine's list of currently influential people, published annually beginning in 2004, following the success of 1999's "20th century" list.
[edit] References
- ^ Editors (Spring 2000). "Einstein as Person of the Century (or Not?)". Center for History of Physics Newsletter (American Institute of Physics) 32 (1). http://www.aip.org/history/newsletter/spring2000/einstein.htm. Retrieved on 1 March 2008.
- ^ "Contributors", Time (31 December 1999). Retrieved on 1 March 2008.
- ^ "Person of the Century", Time (3 January 2000). Retrieved on 1 March 2008.
- ^ Time (2002). Person of the Year: 75th Anniversary Celebration (Special Collector's Edition ed.). New York: Time Books. p. 79. OCLC 52817840.
