Congratulations also to Eeva and Marko!!!
Martti had been the frontrunner in the bookmakers’ odds for the Peace Nobel for several years. Finally, he’s got it! And no one has deserved it more.
Among other things, it would not be an exaggeration to say that without Martti Ahtisaari, there would be no 3 Quarks Daily, as it is his son, and my friend, Marko Ahtisaari who first got me blogging on a Finnish blog and then encouraged me to start 3QD (I didn’t even know what blogs were at the time, and nor, I think, did anyone else). In addition to all his professional achievements, I can attest that Martti is one of the warmest, smartest, nicest, and most cultured persons I have met.
I am so excited that I cannot help showing off by posting this picture of my wife Margit and me with the Ahtisaaris at breakfast in their home in Helsinki earlier this summer (he already seems to have a halo around him!).
More here, here, and here. And, of course, some dissenting opinion.