Vicente Fox
55th President of Mexico
In office December 1, 2000 – November 30, 2006
Preceded by	Ernesto Zedillo
Succeeded by	Felipe Calderón
Governor of Guanajuato
In office September 25, 1995 – September 25, 1999
Preceded by	Carlos Medina Plascencia
Succeeded by	Ramón Martín Huerta
Co-President of Centrist Democrat International along side Pier Ferdinando Casini
Incumbent
Assumed office 2006
Personal details
Born	Vicente Fox Quesada (1942-07-02) July 2, 1942 (age 69) San Francisco del Rincon, Guanajuato, Mexico
Political party	National Action Party (PAN)
Spouse(s)	Lilian de la Concha (divorced) Marta Sahagún
Alma mater	Universidad Iberoamericana
Occupation	Businessman; Politician
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Vicente Fox Quesada (Spanish pronunciation: [biˈsente ˈfoks keˈsaða]; born July 2, 1942) is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.^[1]

Fox was elected President of Mexico in the 2000 presidential election, a historically significant election that made him the first president elected from an opposition party since Francisco I. Madero in 1910 and the first one in 71 years to defeat, with 42 percent of the vote, the then-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).^[2]

After serving as president of Mexico for six years, President Fox returned to his home state of Guanajuato, where he resides with his wife and family. Since leaving the presidency, Vicente Fox has been involved in public speaking and the construction of the Vicente Fox Center of Studies, Library and Museum.^[3]

Fox is a member of the Club of Madrid,^[4] an independent non-profit organization composed of 81 democratic former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 57 different countries.

Early years[link]

Vicente Fox was born in Guanajuato on July 2, 1942, the second of nine children. His father was José Luis Fox Pont, a Mexican citizen^[5] and his mother Mercedes Quesada Etxaide, was Basque from San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, Spain. Fox's paternal grandfather was born Joseph Louis Fuchs in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Catholic immigrants Louis Fuchs and Catherina Elisabetha Flach of Strasbourg, now in France. The "Fox" surname was changed from the German "Fuchs" during the 1870s.^[6]

Fox spent his childhood and adolescence at the family ranch in San Francisco del Rincón in Guanajuato. He moved to Mexico City to attend the Universidad Iberoamericana and received a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration in 1964. He earned his diploma in Top Management Skills from the Harvard Business School in the United States in 1974.^[7]

In 1964, Fox went to work for the Coca-Cola Company where he started as a route supervisor, and he drove a delivery truck. He quickly rose in the company to become the supervisor of Coca-Cola's operations in Mexico, and later in all of Latin America. As the President of Coca Cola Mexico, Fox helped Coca-Cola become Mexico's top-selling soft drink, increasing Coca-Cola's sales by almost 50%.^[8]

Vicente Fox married a receptionist at Coca-Cola, Lilian de la Concha. They adopted four children, Ana Cristina, Vicente, Paulina, and Rodrigo.^[9] In 1990, after 20 years of marriage, Lilian filed for and was granted a divorce.^[10]

Vicente Fox married for the second time while in office as President. He married Marta María Sahagún Jiménez (until then his spokesperson) on July 2, 2001, the first anniversary of his presidential election and his 59th birthday. For both, this was their second marriage.

After retiring from Coca-Cola, Vicente Fox began to participate in various public activities in Guanajuato, where he created the "Patronato de la Casa Cuna Amigo Daniel", an orphanage. He was the president of the Patronato Loyola, a sponsor of the León campus of the Universidad Iberoamericana, and of the Lux Institute.^[11]

Early political career[link]

With the support of Manuel Clouthier, Vicente Fox joined the Partido Acción Nacional on March 1, 1988. That same year he ran for and was elected to the federal Chamber of Deputies representing the Third Federal District in León, Guanajuato.^[11]

Governor of Guanajuato[link]

After serving in the Chamber of Deputies, Fox sought the governorship in Guanajuato in 1991, but lost to Ramón Aguirre Velázquez of the PRI. Following the election, local discontent was so great that the state Congress appointed Carlos Medina Plascencia of the PAN as interim governor.^[12] Four years later, Fox decided to run again, winning by a vote of 2 to 1; thus, he became the new governor.^[11]

As governor, Fox promoted government efficiency and transparency. He was one of the first state governors of Mexico to give a clear, public and timely account of the finances of Guanajuato.^[13]

Fox pushed for the consolidation of small firms, promoted the sale of goods manufactured in Guanajuato overseas and created a unique system in which micro-credits with no overdue portfolio were granted. Under Fox, the state became the fifth most important Mexican state economy.^[13]

Campaign for President[link]

Vicente Fox, the president of Mexico, performing the Zogist salute.

On July 7, 1997 (three years before the presidential election of 2000), Vicente Fox decided to run for President of Mexico. In spite of opposition within his party, Fox secured his candidacy representing the Alliance for Change, a political coalition formed by the National Action Party and the Green Ecological Party of Mexico on November 14, 1999.

During the course of his campaign a presidential debate was organized. There was a disagreement between the three main contenders, Fox, Francisco Labastida of the PRI and Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas of the PRD, and some of the arguments were broadcast on national television, notably the one on whether the debate should be held that same day or the following Friday.^[14] For minutes, Fox kept repeating the word "Hoy" meaning "today", originating the famous phrase "hoy, hoy, hoy!". The other candidates decided to postpone the debate, but Fox used that day's airtime anyway. At first the action brought criticism to Fox, but it soon backfired against his opponents when Fox started using his new phrase to gain new supporters as he campaigned for a better future "today".

During the presidential debate his main opponent, Francisco Labastida, claimed in a nationally televised debate that Vicente Fox had repeatedly called him a "sissy" and a "cross-dresser".^[15] Fox's campaign slogans were "¡Ya!" ("Right now!"), "Ya ganamos" ("We've already won") and "Vota Alianza por el Cambio" meaning "Vote for Alliance for Change".

Amigos de Fox[link]

Amigos de Fox ("Friends of Fox") was a non-profit fund raising group establishe by Denise Montaño that was instrumental in getting Vicente Fox elected President of Mexico. The phrase was also used as a campaign slogan referring to the millions of people supporting Fox in the 2000 presidential elections.^[16]

In 2003, money-laundering charges were lodged against the fund raising group, but were dropped shortly before the July 2003 mid-term elections.^[17]

Election results[link]

On July 2, 2000, (Fox's 58th birthday) he won the presidential election with 43% (15,989,636 votes) of the popular vote, followed by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Francisco Labastida with 36% (13,579,718 votes), and Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) with 17% (6,256,780 votes). Vicente Fox declared victory that same night, a victory which was ratified by President Zedillo. After the final results were announced, President-elect Vicente Fox met with thousands of supporters at the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City, to address his supporters and celebrate his victory. His opponents conceded the election later that night.

President-elect Vicente Fox received an enormous amount of media coverage, as well as many congratulating messages and phone calls from world leaders including then President of the United States, Bill Clinton.

Fox took office as president on December 1, 2000, marking the first time in Mexico's history that an incumbent government peacefully surrendered power to an elected member of the opposition.

Presidency[link]

See article Fox administration

Public image[link]

Fox with Laura Bush, Marta Sahagún, and George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas, March 5, 2004

During his campaign for president, Vicente Fox became well known for his unique cowboy style and popular charisma. As speaker, Fox usually gathered big crowds in early years of his presidency.^[18]

At six foot five, President Fox easily stood out in most crowds, and is believed to be one of the tallest presidents in Mexican history.^[19] After his inauguration, President Fox usually only wore suits for formal occasions, opting to wear his signature boots and jeans throughout his many visits around Mexico.^[20]

When President Fox welcomed U.S. President George W. Bush to his ranch in Guanajuato, both presidents were wearing Fox’s signature black cowboy boots, prompting the Wall Street Journal to call it “The Boot Summit”.^[21]

Controversial comments[link]

• In March 2002, 2 days prior to The International Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey, NL. México, Fox called Cuban President Fidel Castro to give him instructions that would limit Castro's presence in the country while attending to the summit. He instructed Castro among other things to limit his comments regarding the United States, to arrive, give his speech, eat and leave the country ASAP. This led Castro years later to call Fox as "despicable and treacherous".

President Vicente Fox (left) with López Obrador (center) and former México State governor Arturo Montiel (right).

• In May 2005, a controversy arose over comments Fox made during a meeting with Texas businesspeople in which he said, "There is no doubt that Mexicans, filled with dignity, willingness and ability to work, are doing jobs that not even blacks want to do there in the United States." This angered many African-Americans in the United States, prompting many black leaders to demand an apology from Fox. The Reverend Al Sharpton requested a formal apology from Fox to the African-American community and called for an economic boycott of Mexican products until an apology was received; he and many African-Americans felt that Fox's comments were insensitive and racist. The Reverend Jesse Jackson, during a news conference concerning Fox's statement about African-Americans, said that he felt that the comments were, "unwitting, unnecessary and inappropriate" and added that "[Fox's] statement had the impact of being inciting and divisive."^[22]

• Fox was also known to have misspoken the name of Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges as "José Luis Borgués" in the Royal Congress of the Spanish Language. This error sparked accusations of an "uncultured" President.^[23]

• On May 30, 2005, President Vicente Fox told reporters that the majority of the Juárez killings had been resolved and the perpetrators placed behind bars. He went on to criticize the media for "rehashing" the same 300 or 400 murders, and said matters needed to be seen in their "proper dimension".

• In 2006 after Evo Morales refused to sell natural gas to willing buyers, Fox said, "Well, they'll either have to consume it all themselves or they're going to have to eat it."^[24]

• In yet another controversial move he decided to cancel the parade commemorating the 96th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution to take place November 20, arguing that it's an obsolete celebration in which nobody wants to participate anymore. Some analysts consider that this is a response to Andrés Manuel López Obrador's alternative presidency assuming to take place the same day. Criticism changes regarding the different sources: while some consider it a smart decision, others view it as a sign of political weakness.^[25]

• On March 8, 2006, in the wake of the murder of Canadian couple Domenico and Nancy Ianiero at a Cancun Mexican resort, Fox said that there was evidence that pointed to Canadian suspects from Thunder Bay, in order to assert that Cancun remained a safe vacation resort. Fox's comments were criticized by the Ianiero's lawyer Edward Greenspan for compromising the investigation, which Mexican authorities had largely mishandled. Quintana Roo attorney general Bello Melchor Rodriguez later stated that the Canadians were never considered as suspects.^[26][27]

• In November 2006, the TV network Telemundo released a video recording previous to an interview with President Fox where he states: "Ya hoy hablo libre, ya digo cualquier tontería, ya no importa, ya total, yo ya me voy," which means "Now, I speak freely. Now, I say whatever nonsense. It doesn't matter anymore. Anyway, I'm already leaving." Then, during the interview he talked about the violent situation in Oaxaca. The President's office complained about the release of this images and said he was not aware of the camera and microphones being turned on. News agency EFE accused Telemundo of acting unethically, for the video is their intellectual property.^[28]

• In a lecture in the United States, in which he was a keynote speaker, he identified writer Mario Vargas Llosa as a Nobel laureated Colombian, when he is Peruvian (Spanish by naturalization) and, at the time, was not a Nobel Laureate.^[23] Later, in October 2010, Fox congratulated Vargas Llosa on Twitter for winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, but he incorrectly attributed a Nobel Prize to Jorge Luis Borges.^[29]

Post-presidential life[link]

Public speaking[link]

President Fox speaking

After leaving office in December 2006, Fox has maintained himself in the public eye by speaking in countries such as Nigeria, Canada and the United States about topics such as the controversial 2006 election and the Iraq War. In Mexico, Fox's busy post-presidency has caused much criticism because traditionally former Presidents in Mexico are expected to stay out of the public/political spotlight. Nevertheless, Fox stated:

In addition, President Fox has expressed interest in campaigning for PAN candidates in future Mexican elections, an action that would make him the first former president in many decades to do so. Given that President Fox is still well-liked and left office with approval ratings looming 70%, many in Mexico are wondering if his support could result in candidates being elected.^[31]

Vicente Fox is a Member of the Global Leadership Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that offers, discreetly and confidentially, a range of experienced advisors to political leaders facing difficult situations.

Autobiography[link]

Vicente Fox with President of The United States George W. Bush and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper stand in front of "El Castillo" in Chichen Itza, March 30, 2006

Fox's autobiography, entitled Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith and Dreams of a Mexican President, was released in September 2007. ^[32] To promote its release, Fox toured many U.S. cities to do book-signings and interviews with U.S. media. During his tour, however, he faced protests from Mexican immigrants who accused him of actions that forced them to emigrate and find jobs in the United States.^[33] He faced the subject several times during interviews, such as one held with Fox News's Bill O'Reilly, who questioned him about the massive illegal immigration problem of Mexicans into the United States.^[34] Finally, during an interview with Telemundo's Rubén Luengas, the interviewer asked Fox about allegations concerning some properties of Vicente Fox's wife, Martha Sahagún. After Fox explained the situation he asked the interviewer not to make false accusations and to prove what he was saying. Luengas said "I'm telling you in your face, I'm not a liar". After this Fox walked out of the studio, calling the interviewer a 'liar', 'vulgar', and 'stupid'.^[35] Upon the book's release, many were surprised to read several excerpts wherein Fox was highly critical of United States President, George W. Bush, considered by many to be a close friend of Fox's. For example, Fox wrote that Bush was "the cockiest guy I have ever met in my life," and claimed that he was surprised that Bush had ever made it to the White House. Later, in an interview with Larry King, Fox explained that this was a misunderstanding; what he meant by calling George W. Bush 'cocky' was to say he was 'confident'.^[36] Fox also referred to Bush in his autobiography as a "windshield cowboy", due to Bush's apparent fear of a horse Fox offered him to ride.^[37]

Fox Center of Studies, Library and Museum[link]

See: Vicente Fox Center of Studies, Library and Museum

On January 12, 2007,^[38] over a month after he left office, Vicente Fox announced the construction of a center of studies, library and museum that has been labeled by the US press as Mexico's First Presidential Library.^[39][40][41] The project will be a library, museum, a "center for the advancement of democracy", a study center, and a hotel, and it will be completely privately funded.^[42][43] It is expected to be a genuine U.S. style presidential library. It will be built in his home state of Guanajuato, in his home town of San Francisco del Rincón.

While museums are abundant throughout the country, it has nothing comparable to a presidential library where personal documents, records, and gifts amassed by a country’s leader are opened to the public. Fox’s library will be modeled after the Bill Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas,^[44] which, according to the former President, will allow Mexicans to enjoy, for the first time in Mexico’s history, the liberty to review the documents, images and records that made up his six years as president.^[45]

According to the official website, the construction of the Center is in progress and advancing.^[46] Final completion of the library is expected by late 2007.

Centrist Democratic International[link]

On September 20, 2007, Fox was elected Co-President (along with the re-elected Pier Ferdinando Casini) of the Centrist Democratic International at its leader's meeting in Rome. The CDI is the international organization of political parties that counts Fox's party, the National Action Party, as a member.^[47]

Statue controversy[link]

Statue of Vicente Fox in Boca del Río, Veracruz.

In October 2007, an announcement was made in the municipality of Boca del Río, Veracruz, that a 3 meter (10 ft) statue of Vicente Fox was to be erected to honor the former president. This aroused much criticism from the opposition Party of the Democratic Revolution and Mexican media towards Boca del Río's mayor, who is affiliated with the National Action Party, of which Fox is also a member.

The statue was put in place amidst protests on the dawn of October 13, 2007. The inauguration was to have been held on October 14, 2007. Some hours after the installation, however, a crowd of about 100 people brought the statue down with a rope, damaging it. The statue was later put back in place for the inauguration, then taken away for repairs.^[48]

PAN members accused Veracruz's governor, Fidel Herrera Beltrán, of ordering the attack on the statue, while Fox called him "intolerant." Some sources in the media considered that the installation of the statue was inappropriate, since former President Fox was facing allegations relating to an illicit enrichment scandal.

Many of the protesters were members of the center-left Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which governed Mexico for much of the 20th century, until Fox (of the conservative National Action Party [PAN]) won the 2000 presidential election, ousting the PRI from power.^[49]

See also[link]

	Mexico portal
	Biography portal

• List of Presidents of Mexico
• National Action Party (Mexico)
• Mexican general election, 2000

Sources[link]

Schmidt, Samuel. 2000. Mexico encadenado. El legado de Zedillo y los retos de Fox. Mexico D.F.: Colibri

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Vicente Fox

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vicente Fox

• Vicente Fox website during his Presidency
• Vicente Fox Museum and Library
• Extended bio and presidential tenure, by CIDOB Foundation
• Vicente Fox Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos
• Vicente Fox at the Internet Movie Database

v t e Presidents of the United Mexican States Guadalupe Victoria Vicente Guerrero José María Bocanegra Pedro Vélez Anastasio Bustamante Melchor Múzquiz Manuel Gómez Pedraza Valentín Gómez Farías Antonio López de Santa Anna Miguel Barragán José Justo Corro Nicolás Bravo Francisco Javier Echeverría Valentín Canalizo José Joaquín de Herrera Mariano Paredes José Mariano Salas Pedro María de Anaya Manuel de la Peña Mariano Arista Juan Bautista Ceballos Manuel María Lombardini Martín Carrera Rómulo Díaz Juan Álvarez Hurtado Ignacio Comonfort Félix María Zuloaga Manuel Robles Pezuela Miguel Miramón José Ignacio Pavón Benito Juárez Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada José María Iglesias Juan N. Méndez Porfirio Díaz Manuel González Flores Francisco León de la Barra Francisco I. Madero Pedro Lascuráin Victoriano Huerta Francisco S. Carvajal Venustiano Carranza Eulalio Gutiérrez Roque González Garza Francisco Lagos Cházaro Adolfo de la Huerta Álvaro Obregón Plutarco Elías Calles Emilio Portes Gil Pascual Ortiz Rubio Abelardo Luján Rodríguez Lázaro Cárdenas Manuel Ávila Camacho Miguel Alemán Valdés Adolfo Ruiz Cortines Adolfo López Mateos Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Luis Echeverría José López Portillo Miguel de la Madrid Carlos Salinas de Gortari Ernesto Zedillo Vicente Fox Felipe Calderón Vice President of Mexico

Paulo Coelho
Born	(1947-08-24) August 24, 1947 (age 64) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Occupation	Novelist, Lyricist
Nationality	Brazilian
Genres	Drama, Psychological
Influences Jorge Luis Borges, William Blake, Jorge Amado, Henry Miller

Paulo Coelho (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpawlu koˈeʎu]; born August 24, 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist. He has become one of the most widely read authors in the world today. The recipient of numerous prestigious international awards, amongst them the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum and France's Legion d'Honneur.

Biography[link]

Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.^[1] He attended a Jesuit school. As a teenager, Coelho wanted to become a writer. Upon telling his mother this, she responded with "My dear, your father is an engineer. He's a logical, reasonable man with a very clear vision of the world. Do you actually know what it means to be a writer?"^[1] After researching, Coelho concluded that a writer "always wears glasses and never combs his hair" and has a "duty and an obligation never to be understood by his own generation," amongst other things.^[1] At 16, Coelho's introversion and opposition to following a traditional path led to his parents committing him to a mental institution from which he escaped three times before being released at the age of 20.^[2][3] Coelho later remarked that "It wasn't that they wanted to hurt me, but they didn't know what to do... They did not do that to destroy me, they did that to save me."^[4]

At his parents' wishes, Coelho enrolled in law school and abandoned his dream of becoming a writer. One year later, he dropped out and lived life as a hippie, traveling through South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe and started drugs in the 1960s.^[5][6] Upon his return to Brazil, Coelho worked as a songwriter, composing lyrics for Elis Regina, Rita Lee, and Brazilian icon Raul Seixas. Composing with Raul led to Paulo being associated with satanism and occultism, due to the content of some songs.^[7] In 1974, Coelho was arrested for "subversive" activities by the ruling military government, who had taken power ten years earlier and viewed his lyrics as left-wing and dangerous.^[4] Coelho also worked as an actor, journalist, and theatre director before pursuing his writing career.^[7]

In 1986, Coelho walked the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, a turning point in his life.^[5][8] On the path, Coelho had a spiritual awakening, which he described autobiographically in The Pilgrimage.^[9] In an interview, Coelho stated "[In 1986], I was very happy in the things I was doing. I was doing something that gave me food and water – to use the metaphor in "The Alchemist", I was working, I had a person whom I loved, I had money, but I was not fulfilling my dream. My dream was, and still is, to be a writer."^[10] Coelho would leave his lucrative career as a songwriter and pursue writing full-time.

Writing career[link]

In 1982 Coelho published his first book, Hell Archives, which failed to make any significant impact.^[7] In 1986 he contributed to the Practical Manual of Vampirism, although he later tried to take it off the shelves since he considered it “of bad quality."^[7] After making the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in 1986, Coelho wrote The Pilgrimage. The following year, Coelho wrote The Alchemist and published it through a small Brazilian publishing house who made an initial print run of 900 copies and decided not to reprint.^[11] He subsequently found a bigger publishing house, and with the publication of his next book Brida, The Alchemist became a Brazilian bestseller.^[11] The Alchemist has gone on to sell more than 65 million copies, becoming one of the best-selling books in history, and has been translated into more than 70 languages, the 71st being Maltese, winning the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author.^[7][12]

"The Alchemist," easily known as his most successful story, is a story about a young shepherd who follows his spiritual journey to the Egyptian pyramids in search of a treasure.

Since the publication of The Alchemist, Coelho has generally written one novel every two years including By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, The Fifth Mountain, Veronika Decides to Die, The Devil and Miss Prym, Eleven Minutes, Like the Flowing River, The Valkyries and The Witch of Portobello. This dates back to The Pilgrimage: While trying to overcome his procrastination of launching his writing career, Coelho said, "If I see a white feather today, that is a sign that God is giving me that I have to write a new book." Coelho found a white feather in the window of a shop, and began writing that day.^[9]

In total, Coelho has published 30 books. Three of them – The Pilgrimage,The Valkyries and "Aleph" – are autobiographical, while the majority of the rest are fictional, although rooted in his life experiences.^[5] Others, like Maktub and The Manual of the Warrior of Light, are collections of essays, newspaper columns, or selected teachings. In total, Coelho has sold more than 100 million books in over 150 countries worldwide, and his works have been translated into 71 languages.^[6][7] He is the all-time bestselling Portuguese language author.

Coelho also writes up to three blog posts a week at his blog.^[13]

Adaptations[link]

Several of Coelho's books have been adapted into other media.

• 1998 TV Manchete made a 52-episode miniseries based on Brida. This adaptation was written by Jayme Camargo, Sônia Mota and Agélica Lopes, and directed by Walter Avancini. The Brazilian actress Carolina Kasting played Brida. It was the last novel filmed by TV Manchete. It was an audience failure and this adaptation was even reproved by Paulo Coelho himself. Due to the lack of sponsors, it had a premature ending: the last scenes were not recorded, being replaced by screenshots with narrations.
• 2004 Warner Bros. bought the rights to the film adaptation of The Alchemist. The project stalled and never materialized and the film rights were sold to Harvey Weinstein who will serve as the film's producer.
• 2007 In June Paulo Coelho announced The Experimental Witch Project, a collaborative project based on The Witch of Portobello.^[14]
• 2009 Veronika Decides to Die was made into a film released in 2009.
• 2011 In July Coelho ran Aleph, The Video Contest to collaborate and increase interaction with his more than 5,000,000 friends on Facebook. The winner was Turkish artist Raif Kurt.^[15]

File sharing[link]

Paulo Coelho is a strong advocate of spreading his books through peer-to-peer file sharing networks. A fan posted a Russian translation of one of his novels online. Sales of his book jumped from 3,000 to one million in three years, with no additional promotion or publicity from his publishers.^[16][17] Coelho took to pirating his own books on The Pirate Bay. Coelho provides free translations of many of his books.^[18] He was caught by the head of HarperCollins, Jane Friedman, who noticed that one of the unauthorized versions Coelho linked to had notes from his own manuscript.^[19] The two reached a compromise: each month a new novel can be read for free on the publisher's website.^[19][20] Due to the openness regarding his content, author Jeff Jarvis named Coelho 'the Googliest author' in his book What Would Google Do.^[19]

Personal life[link]

Coelho and violinist Yehudi Menuhin at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, in 1999

Coelho and his wife Christina Oiticica divide their time between Europe and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.^[21] In 1996, Coelho founded the Paulo Coelho Institute, which provides aid to children and elderly people with financial problems.^[22][23] In September 2007, Coelho was named a Messenger of Peace to the UN.^[24]

• Member of the Board of the Shimon Peres Center for Peace
• Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (France)
• UNESCO special counsellor for “Intercultural Dialogues and Spiritual Convergences”
• Board Member of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
• Member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
• Member of INI International Advisory Council – HARVARD INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATION INITIATIVE
• Member of the Board, Doha Center of Media Freedom

On May 9, 2006, in Sofia, Bulgaria, Paulo Coelho was awarded by the President of Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov the "The Honorable Award of the President of the Republic".^[25]

Bibliography[link]

Note: Although the biography section of Coelho's website states that his first book was published in 1982,^[7][26] the Official Fan Club Paulo Coelho website lists two additional books published in 1974: The Manifest of Krig-há and Theater For Education.^[27]

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (January 2012)

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Paulo Coelho

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paulo Coelho

• [1] Paulo Coelho and Ruthie DiTucci interview on SyndicatedNews.NET November 10, 2010.
• Glauco Ortolano Interview, World Literature Today
• Works by or about Paulo Coelho in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Paulo Coelho at the Internet Movie Database
• Support the Paulo Coelho Institute
• Paulo's official blog : Read his thoughts and discuss with Paulo
• Paulo's official Quotes Page : Find Paulo's Quotes in english and other languages, comment on them
• Warrior of the Light Online
• Paulo Coelho in Swedish
• What's it like to be the alchemist? Interview with Forward Magazine, April 2009
• Appearance on Desert Island Discs, BBC-Radio July 4, 3 2005
• Articles on openDemocracy
• A 1988 video interview
• Paulo Coelho's Interview with The Himalayan Times, Nepal
• Coelho Paulo
• Paulo Coelho on Goodreads
• Paulo Coelho on Konyv-konyvek
• Paulo Coelho Fanclub Switzerland
• Stephen Capen Interview on Worldguide, Futurist Radio Hour – October 14, 1995
• Interview given to the podcast 'Jovem Nerd' – October 15, 2010

Fran Drescher
Drescher at the Vienna Life Ball in 2009
Born	Francine Joy Drescher (1957-09-30) September 30, 1957 (age 54) Flushing, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, comedian, producer, screenwriter, director, author, activist, political lobbyist, singer-songwriter
Years active	1977–present
Spouse	Peter Marc Jacobson (m. 1978–1999) «start: (1978)–end+1: (2000)»"Marriage: Peter Marc Jacobson to Fran Drescher" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Fran_Drescher)

Francine Joy "Fran" Drescher (born September 30, 1957) is an American film and television actress, comedian, producer, and activist. She is best known for her role as Fran Fine in the hit TV series, The Nanny.

Drescher made her screen debut with a small role in the 1977 blockbuster film Saturday Night Fever prior to appearing in films such as the biopic American Hot Wax (1978), and Wes Craven's horror film Summer of Fear (1978). In the 1980s, she gained recognition as a comedic actress in the films The Hollywood Knights (1980), Doctor Detroit (1983), This Is Spinal Tap (1984), and UHF (1989) while establishing a television career with guest appearances on several series. In 1993, she achieved wider fame as Fran Fine in her own sitcom vehicle The Nanny, for which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Comedy Television Series during the show's run. She received further recognition for her performances in Jack (1996) and The Beautician and the Beast (1997) and reinforced her reputation as a leading sitcom star with Living With Fran (2005–2006) and Happily Divorced (2011–present).

A uterine cancer survivor, Drescher is an outspoken healthcare advocate and LGBT rights activist, and is noted for her work as a Public Diplomacy Envoy for Women's Health Issues for the U.S. State Department. Divorced from writer and producer Peter Marc Jacobson, she currently lives in Malibu, California.

Early life[link]

Drescher was born in Flushing, Queens, New York,^[1] the daughter of Sylvia, a bridal consultant, and Morty Drescher, a naval systems analyst.^[2] Her Ashkenazi Jewish family is of South-East Central European origin. She has an older sister, Nadine.

Drescher was a first runner-up for "Miss New York Teenager" in 1973, as revealed in her first autobiography "Enter Whining" released December 29, 1995, and on her interview on William Shatner's Raw Nerve, which first aired on January 27, 2009. She attended Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens, where she met her future husband, Peter Marc Jacobson, whom she married in 1978, at age 21. They divorced in 1999.^[3] Jacobson was Drescher's constant supporter in her show-business career, and he wrote, directed and produced her signature television series, The Nanny. Drescher graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1975; one of her classmates was comedian Ray Romano.^[4] Drescher's character Fran Fine on The Nanny and Romano's character Ray Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond met at a 20th high school reunion.^[5]

Career[link]

Early careers[link]

Her first break was a small role as the dancer Connie in the blockbuster movie Saturday Night Fever (1977) in which she delivered the line "So, are you as good in bed as you are on the dance floor?" to John Travolta. A year later, she began to gain more attention in films such as American Hot Wax (1978), and Wes Craven's Summer of Fear (1978). She also took on a rare dramatic role in the Milos Forman 1981 film, Ragtime.

During the 1980s, Drescher found moderate success as a character actress with memorable roles in films such as The Hollywood Knights, Doctor Detroit, The Big Picture, UHF, Cadillac Man, and memorably in This is Spinal Tap as publicist Bobbi Fleckman. She also made an appearance in a second season episode of Who's the Boss in 1985 as an interior decorator.

[edit] The Nanny and later film roles

Drescher and Jacobson created their own television show, The Nanny in 1993. The show aired on CBS from 1993 and ended in 1999, and Drescher became an instant star. In this sitcom, she played a charming and bubbly woman named Fran Fine who casually became the nanny of Margaret ("Maggie"), Brighton ("B"), and Grace ("Gracie") Sheffield; with her wit and her charm, she endeared herself to their widower father: stuffy, composed, proper British gentleman, and Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (played by British actor Charles Shaughnessy).

Drescher appeared in Jack (1996), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, The Beautician and the Beast (1997) (for which she was also executive producer) and Picking Up the Pieces (2000) co-starring Woody Allen. She also was the voice of "Pearl" in Shark Bait (2006).

Return to television[link]

In recent years, Drescher has made a return to television both with leading and guest roles. In 2003, Drescher appeared in episodes of the short lived sitcom, Good Morning, Miami as Roberta Diaz. In 2005, she returned to TV with the sitcom Living with Fran, in which she played Fran Reeves, a middle-aged mother of two, living with Riley Martin (Ryan McPartlin), a man half her age and not much older than her son. Former Nanny costar Charles Shaughnessy appeared as her philandering ex-husband, Ted. Living with Fran was cancelled May 17, 2006, after two seasons.

In 2006, Drescher guest starred in an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent; the episode, "The War at Home", aired on US television on November 14, 2006.^[6] She also appeared in an episode of the series Entourage and in the same year, gave her voice to the role of a female golem in The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror XVII". In 2007, Drescher appeared in the US version of the Australian improvisational comedy series Thank God You're Here.

In 2008, Drescher announced that she was developing a new sitcom entitled The New Thirty, also starring Rosie O'Donnell. A series about two old high school friends coping with midlife crises, Drescher described the premature plot of the show as "kind of Sex and the City but we ain't getting any! It'll probably be more like The Odd Couple."^[7] The sitcom failed to materialize however.^[7] In 2010, Drescher returned to television with her own daytime talk show, The Fran Drescher Tawk Show. While the program debuted to strong ratings, it ended its three-week test run to moderate success, resulting in its shelving.^[8][9] The following year, the sitcom Happily Divorced, created by Drescher and her ex-husband, Peter Marc Jacobson, was picked up by TV Land for a ten-episode order. It premiered there June 15, 2011.^[10] The show was renewed in July 2011 for a second season of 12 episodes, which aired in spring 2012. On May 1, 2012, TV Land extended the second season and picked up 12 additional episodes, taking the second season total to 24. The back-order of season two will debut later in 2012.

Personal life[link]

After separating in 1996, Drescher and Jacobson divorced in 1999. They did not have any children. Drescher stated, "I would have been able to conceive but not hold on".^[11] Drescher and Jacobson remained friends, and she has worked to support LGBT rights issues after her ex-husband came out.^[12] Drescher has stated that the primary reason for the divorce was her need to change directions in life. After her divorce, Drescher dated a man 16 years her junior. She credits the relationship with helping her through cancer and used it as inspiration for her sitcom Living with Fran.^[13] Drescher and Jacobson remain friends and business partners. She has stated that "...we choose to be in each others’ lives in any capacity. Our love is unique, rare, and unconditional; unless he’s being annoying.”^[14]

1985 robbery and rape[link]

In January 1985, two armed robbers broke into Drescher and Jacobson's Los Angeles apartment. While one ransacked their home, the other raped Drescher and her friend at gunpoint. Jacobson was also physically attacked, tied up, and forced to witness the entire ordeal. It took Drescher many years to recover, and it took her even longer to admit this to the press. She was paraphrased as saying in an interview with Larry King that although it was a traumatic experience, she found ways to turn it into something positive. In her book Cancer Schmancer, the actress writes: "My whole life has been about changing negatives into positives." Her rapist, who was on parole at the time of the crime, was returned to prison and sentenced to two life sentences.^[11]

Cancer battle[link]

After two years of symptoms and misdiagnosis by eight doctors, Drescher was admitted to Los Angeles's Cedars Sinai Hospital on June 21, 2000, after doctors diagnosed her with uterine cancer. She had to undergo an immediate radical hysterectomy to treat the disease. Drescher was given a clean bill of health and no post-operative treatment has been ordered.

She wrote about her experiences in her second book, Cancer Schmancer.^[11] Her purpose for this book was to raise consciousness for men and women "to become more aware of the early warning signs of cancer, and to empower themselves." Drescher says, "I was going to learn what I needed to learn, ask questions, become partners with my doctor instead of having some kind of parent/child relationship."

Drescher at a press conference for the Austrian charity 'Dancer Against Cancer', 2010.

Cancer Schmancer Movement[link]

On June 21, 2007, the seventh anniversary of her operation, Drescher announced the national launch of the Cancer Schmancer Movement, a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all women's cancers be diagnosed while in Stage 1, the most curable stage. She celebrated her tenth year of wellness on June 21, 2010.

Fran says:

Her goal is to live in a time when women's mortality rates drop as their health care improves and early cancer detection increases. More information can be found on her website at cancerschmancer.org.

Her efforts as an outspoken healthcare advocate in Washington DC helped get unanimous passage for H.R. 1245 (also known as Johanna's Law) and she is acknowledged in the Congressional Record.

Politics[link]

Life Ball 2009; Bill Clinton, Fran Drescher and Elke Winkens

In September 2008, Drescher, a Democrat, was appointed as a U.S. diplomat by George W. Bush Administration's Assistant Secretary of State Goli Ameri. Her official title is Public Diplomacy Envoy for Women's Health Issues. In traveling throughout the world, she will support U.S. public diplomacy efforts, including working with health organizations and women's groups to raise awareness of women’s health issues, cancer awareness and detection, and patient empowerment and advocacy. Her first trip was in late September and included stops in Romania, Hungary,^[16] Kosovo and Poland.^{[citation needed]}

U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy Fran Drescher and Goli Ameri

In 2008, Drescher supported Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. She attended a Super Democrat rally for Clinton. Drescher said that she had been considering a run for the United States Senate in 2008 to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton, but ultimately decided against it.^[17][18]

Music[link]

On September 28, 2009, she released a single entitled "Eye For An Eye".

Awards[link]

Drescher has been the recipient of the John Wayne Institute’s Woman of Achievement Award, the Gilda Award, the City of Hope Woman of the Year Award, the Hebrew University Humanitarian Award, and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Spirit of Achievement Award.

Most recently she was honored with the City of Hope Spirit of Life Award, which was presented to her by Senator Hillary Clinton.

On April 10, 2010, she was guest of honor at the "Dancer against Cancer" charity ball held at the Imperial Palace, Vienna, Austria, where she received the first "My Aid Award" for her achievements in support of cancer prevention and rehabilitation.^[19]

In popular culture[link]

She is portrayed in the episode The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou from the US television cartoon series Family Guy as being the result of Peter Griffin having fed a mogwai after midnight; in a reference to the film Gremlins where mogwais turn into gremlins if fed at that time.

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Stage[link]

References[link]

1. ^ Firestone, David. "For Queens, a Place in the Sun; Hollywood Is Suddenly Zooming In, With a Vengeance", The New York Times, September 18, 1994. Accessed 2008-01-27. "Ms. Drescher, who actually comes from Kew Gardens Hills, may be the most deliberately colorful of the lot, but she is hardly alone in celebrating the showbiz ascendancy of her native land."
2. ^ Fran Drescher Biography (1957-)
3. ^ Meisler, Andy. "TELEVISION; Mary Poppins She's Not", The New York Times, December 18, 1994. Accessed 2007-11-20. "After she graduated from Hillcrest High School in Queens, where she met Jacobson, the two of them moved to Los Angeles and were married."
4. ^ http://poobala.com/everybodyandnanny.html
5. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0657352/
6. ^ TV.com - episode page
7. ^ ^{a b} Gordon, Julie (2008-05-22). "BUZZ: Rosie O'Donnell, Fran Drescher combine for TV's whiniest sitcom?". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/buzz-rosie-o-donnell-fran-drescher-combine-for-tv-s-whiniest-sitcom-1.880364. Retrieved 2011-03-31. 
8. ^ Albiniak, Paige (2011-11-29). "Audiences Still Love The Nanny". Broadcasting & Cable. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/460398-Audiences_Still_Love_The_Nanny_.php. Retrieved 2011-03-31. 
9. ^ Albiniak, Paige (2011-12-21). "Syndies Flat as Holiday Season Revs Up". Broadcasting & Cable. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/461400-Syndies_Flat_as_Holiday_Season_Revs_Up.php. Retrieved 2011-03-31. 
10. ^ Sarah Anne Hughes (June 14, 2011). "Fran Drescher talks being ‘Happily Divorced’ from gay ex-husband". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/fran-drescher-talks-being-happily-divorced-from-gay-ex-husband/2011/06/14/AGJ4lhUH_blog.html. 
11. ^ ^{a b c} "LARRY KING LIVE Interview with Fran Drescher". CNN. May 6, 2002. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0205/06/lkl.00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-23. 
12. ^ Fran Drescher's Ex-Husband Peter Marc Jacobson Is Gay, Shows Support
13. ^ Dustin Fitzharris (July 9, 2011). Fran Drescher on Dating After Divorce. ABC News. Accessed 2011-11-05.
14. ^ Modern Family - Peter Marc Jacobson on Success, Sexuality, and Being in Love with Fran Drescher. GuySpy. July 1, 2011.
15. ^ Cancer Schmancer Movement Website
16. ^ "U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy Fran Drescher Raises Awareness of Women’s Cancer During Visit to Budapest". http://hungary.usembassy.gov/event_10092008.html. Retrieved 2010-05-16. 
17. ^ "'Nanny' state? Drescher eyes Clinton's Senate seat". Yahoo News. December 9, 2008. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/09/ap/national/main4658877.shtml. Retrieved 2009-01-07. 
18. ^ Alex Dobuzinskis (December 9, 2008). "Fran Drescher looks to graduate from “Nanny” to U.S. Senate". Reuters Blogs. http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/12/09/fran-drescher-looks-to-graduate-from-nanny-to-us-senate/. Retrieved 2009-01-07. 
19. ^ "So war der 'Dancer Against Cancer'-Ball". http://madonna.oe24.at/Society/So-war-der-Dancer-Against-Cancer-Ball/1284900. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
20. ^ Fran Drescher Emmy Award Winner

External links[link]

• Fran Drescher's Twitter page
• Cancer Schmancer Movement website
• Fran Drescher at the Internet Movie Database
• Fran Drescher at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Fran Drescher at AllRovi
• Fran Drescher Speaks Out in Support of New Bill Seeking Stricter Cosmetics Rules - video by Democracy Now!
• Fran Drescher at Emmys.com

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Deepak Chopra
Speaking to the Microsoft PAC on January 15, 2011
Born	(1946-10-22) October 22, 1946 (age 65) New Delhi, India
Nationality	American
Occupation	Physician, public speaker, writer
Spouse	Rita Chopra
Children	Mallika Chopra and Gotham Chopra
Parents	K. L. Chopra, Pushpa Chopra
Website
www.deepakchopra.com

Deepak Chopra (Hindi: दीपक चोपड़ा; born October 22, 1946) is an Indian-born, American physician, public speaker, and writer. He is generally specialized in subjects such as spirituality, Ayurveda and mind-body medicine.^[1][2] Chopra began his career as an endocrinologist and later shifted his focus to alternative medicine.^[3] He now runs his own medical center with a focus on mind-body connections.^{[clarification needed]} He is also a lecturer at the Update in Internal Medicine event.

Chopra was an assistant to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi before starting his own career in the late 1980s by publishing self-help books on New Age spirituality and alternative medicine.^[4][5] A friend of Michael Jackson for 20 years, Chopra criticized the "cult of drug-pushing doctors, with their co-dependent relationships with addicted celebrities", saying that he hoped Jackson's death, attributed to an overdose of a prescription drug, would be a call to action.^[6]

Early life and education[link]

Chopra was born in New Delhi, India.^[1][7] His father, Krishan Chopra (1919–2001) was a prominent Indian cardiologist, and head of the department of medicine and cardiology at Mool Chand Khairati Ram Hospital, New Delhi, for over 25 years,^[8] He was also a lieutenant in the British army.^[1][7] His paternal grandfather was a sergeant in the British Army, who looked to Ayurveda for treatment for a heart condition when the condition did not improve with Western medicine.^[9]

Chopra's younger brother, Sanjiv, is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and staff at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.^[10]

As a young man, Chopra's desire was to become an actor or journalist, but he reports that he was inspired by a character in Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis and became a doctor.^[11]

Chopra completed his primary education at St. Columba's School in New Delhi and graduated from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).^[12] After immigrating to the US in 1968, Chopra began his clinical internship and residency training at Muhlenberg Hospital in Plainfield, New Jersey. He had residency terms at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts, and at the University of Virginia Hospital.^[7]