Photo: Kacy Bao / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Julian Assange was born on July 3, 1971 in Townsville, Queensland, Australia and is credited as an Internet activist, hacker and programmer. As of 2026, Julian Assange is 55 years old. Education on record includes Townsville State High School and Central Queensland University. Recorded honors include Sam Adams Award (2010), Courage Award for the Arts (2013), Gold medal for Peace with Justice (2011) and 5 more.
My Take
Julian Assange is one of those figures who you can't be neutral about, and honestly, I think that's kind of the point. The Australian hacker-turned-publisher who founded WikiLeaks in 2006 essentially forced the world to reckon with what governments actually do behind closed doors — the "Collateral Murder" video alone was a gut punch that changed how a lot of people thought about the Iraq War. You can debate his methods, his ego, his judgment, all day long, but the sheer nerve it takes to go up against the U.S. military-industrial complex while holed up in an embassy for years, then a prison cell, is something else. He racked up journalism and peace awards across multiple continents, which tells you there were serious people who took his mission seriously. A polarizing guy? Absolutely. But he made transparency a global conversation, and that's not nothing.
This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Julian Assange
- Name (Japanese)
- ジュリアン・アサンジ
- Reading
- じゅりあん・あさんじ
- Born
- July 3, 1971 (age 55)
- Origin
- Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- Occupation
- Internet activist / hacker / programmer / television producer / television director
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Boar
2. Background
- High school
- Townsville State High School
- University
- Central Queensland University
Awards & achievements
- 2010 Sam Adams Award
- 2013 Courage Award for the Arts
- 2011 Gold medal for Peace with Justice
- 2008 Index Award
- 2011 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism
- 2020 Stuttgart Peace Prize
- 2011 Sydney Peace Prize
- 2011 Walkley Awards
3. Links
4. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Julian Assange born?
Julian Assange was born on July 3, 1971 and is 55 years old.
Where is Julian Assange from?
Julian Assange is from Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
What does Julian Assange do?
Julian Assange works as Internet activist, hacker, programmer, television producer, television director.
Where did Julian Assange study?
Julian Assange attended Central Queensland University.