Xanana Gusmão

Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão GCL (born José Alexandre Gusmão, on 20 June 1946) is a former militant who was the first President of East Timor, serving from May 2002 to May 2007. He later became the fourth and current Prime Minister of East Timor on 8 August 2007.

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Gusmão was born to mestiço school teacher parents (of mixed Portuguese-Timorese ancestry) in Manatuto in what was then Portuguese Timor, and attended a Jesuit high school just outside of Dili. After leaving high-school for financial reasons at the age of fifteen, he held a variety of unskilled jobs, while continuing his education at night school. In 1965, at the age of 19, he met Emilia Batista, who was later to become his wife. His nickname, "Xanana", was taken from the musical lyric, "Sha-na-na".

GCL: :This article is about a taxonomy used in the UK. For the Cincinnati sports league, see Greater Cincinnati League....

President: President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides, who sits in leadership (from Latin prae- "before" + sedere "to sit"). Originally, the term usually referred to the presiding officer of a ceremony or...

East Timor: The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste or East Timor is a nation in Southeast Asia, consisting of the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecussi-Ambeno, an exclave of East Timor situated on the western side of the island, surrounded by West Timor....