Background
Christo was born in Belo Horizonte.
Christo was born in Belo Horizonte.
He was later imprisoned for four years by the military dictatorship which ruled Brazil for smuggling people out of country. In addition to work on eliminating hunger in Brazil, Christo is involved in various aspects of Brazil"s politics. He worked for the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for whom he was considered a spiritual advisor and mentor.
Christo was selected by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as the 2013 recipient of its International José Martí Prize. The reason given by Irina Bokova, its Director General, was his exceptional contribution to building a universal culture of peace, social justice and human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. The prize was awarded on 28 January in Havana, Cuba, at the Third International Conference on World Balance, being held to mark the 160th anniversary of José Martí’s birth.
