Time Selects Volodymyr Zelensky As Person Of The Year – Deadline 

Time has selected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “and the spirit of Ukraine” as its Person of the Year.

“This year’s choice was the most clear-cut in memory,” the magazine’s editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal wrote. “Whether the battle for Ukraine fills one with hope or with fear, Volodymyr Zelensky galvanized the world in a way we haven’t seen in decades.”

“Zelensky has been laser-focused on keeping the world’s eyes on Ukraine,” he wrote. “The former entertainer understood innately that attention is the planet’s most valuable currency and all but cornered the global market. He did this through meticulous image-building and repetition in his message. He was blunt, sometimes sarcastic, and always directly to the point: we must save Ukraine to save democracy.”

Time has selected a Person of the Year since 1927, singling out someone who has influence on the world over the previous 12 months. The shortlist also included Chinese President Xi Jinping, the U.S. Supreme Court, Elon Musk, Rep. Liz Cheney, MacKenzie Scott, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, protesters in Iran, gun safety advocates and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen.

The magazine also selected the women of Iran as the Heroes of the Year, Blackpink as Entertainer of the Year and Aaron Judge as Athlete of the Year.

The Person of the Year in 2021 was Elon Musk.

Simon Shuster penned the Time profile of Zelensky, where he talked extensively of facing the Russian threat.

“We are dealing with a powerful state that is pathologically unwilling to let Ukraine go,” Zelensky told Shuster. “They see the democracy and freedom of Ukraine as a question of their own survival.”

Shuster wrote, “The loss of freedom in one nation, he argues, erodes freedom in all the rest. ‘If they devour us, the sun in your sky will get dimmer.’”