THE WINNING ENTRIES OF THE ANNUAL COMPETITION

EX LIBRIS 2000

Maurice Strong

 

The first of four children, Maurice Frederick Strong was born in the prairie
town of Oak Lake, Manitoba, Canada on April 29, 1929 and grew up in poverty
during the Great Depression. A Snake by the Eastern and a Taurus according to
the Western Zodiac, Maurice Strong's personality is comprised of a unique
combination of business acumen, global environmental commitment and profound
spirituality. Seen by some, as a controversial figure supporting global
governance, he sees himself as a socialist in ideology, a capitalist in
methodology. Dedicated to fighting pollution and improving ecology on a global
scale, the self-made, public-spirited Canadian millionaire, is a former
industrialist and financier, senior civil servant and key UN figure, closely
associated with the Earth Summit in Rio and the Earth Charter.

In childhood, he often went into the hills around Oak Lake for solitary
communion with nature. "I could never get over the wonder of a hares turning
white in the winter and brown in the summer I developed a profound respect for
nature, which is at the root of my religious feelings because the exciting
things that were happening in the natural world owned nothing to man. "

At the age of 14 he became an apprentice fur trader and lived in the Arctic very
close to the Inuit people, learning their language as well as a lot about how
people lived close to the earth. There he taught himself geology, read books on
economics, prospecting and stock promotion. During the oil boom, he worked as a
stock analyst, having a remarkable gift for timing.. made his first fortune by
the age of 23.Goaded by restlessness which he has described not as wanderlust
but rather a desire to find the meaning and purpose in life, he left the
security of that employment for a two year trip around the world. He spent time
in Africa: he mastered Swahili; developed a graphite mine in Tanzania; set up
petrol stations in Kenya and Zanzibar. Seeing the good that the YMCA and
churches were doing around the world, he came back to Canada in 1954 and tried
to get a job with church missions, big foundations and External Affairs- but
with no formal education he was rejected. Returning to the world of finance and
resource development, he became extremely successful founding various companies.

In his spare time he labored as a volunteer fund-raiser for YMCA always
conscious of interconnectedness of..

His early experience with the destructiveness of poverty had a profound effect
on Strongs choice of his lifes work . "It got me into foreign-aid work: two
thirds of the population of the earth is really affected by poverty, and I felt
I could make an impact there. In handling foreign aid work I became increasingly
aware of the importance of interdependence on earth and that not merely
pollution is at the heart of the environment issue... A high-technology
civilization like ours, requires cooperative attitudes. If we dont change- our
species will not survive."

For the rest of his career, Maurice Strong moved back and forth between public
service and the private sector. He has played key roles in Canadian foreign
aid; the Canadian petroleum and power generation sectors. Globally he has headed
the Earth Summit and the UN Environment Programme as well as famine relief
operations. Currently a senior advisor the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
appointed to lead UN reforms he is also the author of the Earth Charter,which is
the document which best sums up Maurice Strongs philosophy
(www.earthcharter.org). An important expression of the commitment of people
throughout the earth to evoke their deepest moral, spiritual and ethical
principles in the task of ensuring a sustainable future for those who inhabit
the Earth now and those who follow us on the earth. To ensure our common future,
the real goal of the Earth Charter is that it will in fact become like the Ten
Commandments, like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; it will become the
symbol of the aspirations and the commitments of people everywhere.

Strong has a survival plan for the worlds environment. Strong calls for an
industrial revolution to marry economic growth with environmental security. The
man who would save the planet flies economy class. He takes taxis not
limos. Strong runs his life as a citizen of the world. He sees himself as a
Renaissance Man. Strong's career has been astonishing, all the more because he is
a product of a Depression-era Prairie existence and his formal education went no
further than Grade 11. Mr. Universe. For over 50 years Maurice Strong has been
building a network of useful connections on six continents, maybe that's why it
seems as if he's running the planet. His dedication to the environment and the
global community is extraordinary.He is a very genuine and decent human
being. Strong's career has been marked by an evident concern for people and for
the environment.

 

FIRST PRIZE

 

Martina Chlubnova ( Czech Republic)

 

 

 

 

SECOND PRIZE

 

Gabija Talberga ( Latvia)

 

 

 

 

ILEX AWARD

 

Julia Denisova ( Russia)

 

 

 

 

 

HONOURABLE MENTION

 

Sandra Jaundaldere ( Latvia )

 

 

 

HONOURABLE MENTION

 

Vida Stefanovic ( Yugoslavia)

Back to Ex Libris 2001