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.
Overview
Julian Paul Assange ( ə-SAHNZH; né Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, programmer, and publisher who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of leaks from Chelsea Manning, a United States Army intelligence analyst: footage of a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad showing war crimes committed by the U.S. Army, U.S.
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 54)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Boar
- Origin
- Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- Internet activist / hacker / programmer / television producer / television director
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- 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. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.