Passion or Profession: hotel manager, hero

Period: unavailable

During Rwanda's 1994 genocide, Rusesabagina was able use his position as hotel manager to save the lives of more than one thousand people fleeing a Hutu militia. He sheltered the refugees in the hotel and bought time to secure their escape by bribing the militia and by contacting the king of Belgium and President Clinton to plead for help. Rusesabagina's heroic actions were depicted in the 2004 movie Hotel Rwanda. He was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. He currently lives in Belgium.