Voting Station

Paul Rusesabagina

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The Resume

    (June 15, 1954- )
    Born in Murama, Rwanda
    Hotel manager in Kigali, Rwanda
    Sheltered 1,268 refugees at the Hotel des Mille Collines during the Rwandan genocide (1994)
    Moved to Belgium (1996), developed a taxicab company
    Portrayed by Don Cheadle in 'Hotel Rwanda' (2004)
    Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005)

Why he might be annoying:

    His last name is hard to spell and pronounce (roo-seh-sah-bah-GHEE-nah').
    He has developed a running feud with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who accused him of exaggerating his role.
    He said, 'History keeps repeating itself, but doesn't teach us any lessons. 'Never again' has turned into 'again and again and again.''
    Noting that during the genocide people were killed at a rate of 8,000 a day (or five per minute), he commented 'At the end, the best you can say is that my hotel saved about four hours' worth of people.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    Through negotiating, bribery and calling in every favor he had acquired during his career, he kept militias from slaughtering the people taking refuge in his hotel.
    He faced repeated death threats while the hotel was under siege.
    He said, 'If you turn your back, leave a thousand people, that's on your hands. That is cowardice.'
    Not a single refugee in the hotel died in the genocide.
    Four of his eight siblings survived the genocide, about which he noted, 'For a Rwandan family, this is a comparatively lucky outcome.'
    He said about Kagame's attempts to discredit him 'This shows the weakness of [his] government.... The president is making me more important than I am supposed to be.'
    Asked about his ethnicity (since he has a Hutu father and a Tutsi mother), he replied, 'In Rwanda, we follow our fathers. I am very proud to be what my father was: A gentleman.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 10 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 9 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 22 Votes: 31.82% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 89 Votes: 46.07% Annoying