The Guardian: MOHAMED BOUAZIZI
Like so many little people who trigger big events, Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old fruit and vegetable seller in the nondescript Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid, wasn’t seeking to change the world. All he wanted was a truck. So he worked hard and saved, but his reward was a police summons for trading without a permit. Obtaining a permit would mean paying a bribe – and the bribe would go towards sustaining the very system that kept men like him poor and voiceless. When he protested at the municipal offices, he was ignored. So he decided to set himself on fire. on 17 December 2010.
In doing so he ignited a wave of protest that became known as the Arab Spring. The assumption of autocratic rule – from Sidi Bouzid through Tripoli to Damascus and beyond – began to totter. Within 10 days of Mohamed’s death on January 4, Tunisia’s president Ben Ali had fled the country after 23 years in power, and a week later protesters gathered in Cairo’s Tahir Square. Bouazizi’s place in history was secure.