Kofi Atta Annan was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, as well as chairman of The Elders, an international organisation founded by Nelson Mandela.

Kofi Annan was born in Kumasi in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) on 8 April 1938. His twin sister Efua Atta, who died in 1991, shared the middle name Atta, which in the Akan language means "twin". Annan and his sister were born into one of the country's Fante aristocratic families; both of their grandfathers and their uncle were Fante paramount chiefs and their brother Kobina would go on to become Ghana's ambassador to Morocco.

In 1965, Annan married Titi Alakija, a Nigerian woman from an aristocratic family. Several years later, they had a daughter, Ama, and a son, Kojo. The couple separated in the late 1970s and divorced in 1983.

Annan died on the morning of 18 August 2018 in Bern, Switzerland, at the age of 80, after a short illness. António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said that Annan was "a global champion for peace" and "a guiding force for good". Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad also said he is saddened by the death of Annan. His body was returned to his native Ghana from Geneva in a brief and solemn ceremony at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, on 10 September. His coffin, draped in the blue UN flag, was accompanied by his widow Nane, his children and senior diplomats from the international organisation.