 Guy
LALIBERTE
Participant of space flight, Canada
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:
September 2, 1959, Quebec city, Canada
MARITAL STATUS:
He has five children: three from his marriage to Rizia Moreira and
two children from his marriage to Claudia Barilla.
AWARDS:
Chevalier of Ordre National du Quebec, the highest government award
of Quebec (1997).
Officer of Order of Canada, the highest civil award of Canada (2004).
WORK EXPERIENCE:
He started his artistic career when he was fourteen giving performances
on the streets and squares of various cities, countries and continents,
from his native Quebec to Hawaiian islands.
He is an experienced accordion player, walked on stilts, known as "fire
eater".
By the late 70s he already acted as the creator and organizer of tours
teaming up with his school friend Daniel Gauthier who by that time had
graduated from a business college and owned consulting and administration
company.
In 1984 he together with Daniel Gauthier set up the firm known as "Cirque
du Soleil", which owned several dancing-acrobatic companies operating in
some countries. The firm has headquarters in Montreal and is worth nearly
2 bln US dollars. Now its troupes perform in different countries; about
four thousand actors are employed in them. Circus actors took part in ceremonies
of giving Oscar and Grammy prizes. Circus achievements are recognized by
the main professional prizes of the circus community and one of the shows
was marked by the Emmy Award. In 2009 this circus performance opened in
Moscow musical contest "Eurovision".
In October 2007 he set up fund "One Drop". The fund seeks to draw attention
to the problem of clean drinking water deficit and secure free access of
the world population to uncontaminated sources of water. The fund was initially
financed due to his personal contribution in the amount of 100 million
US dollars.
By the 2008 total he was ranked as the 562nd in the list of the world's
richest persons. His fortune is valued at 1.4 billion US dollars.
He is a professional poker player.
Since 2004 he looked into possibilities of Space flight with the participation
of Space Adventures Company.
On June 2, 2009 the Space Adventures Company announced that Canadian
national would be the next space tourist. On June 4, 2009 Roscosmos and
Space Adventures Company officially announced the news about it to the
public. At the official presentation, the Head of Roscosmos Human Flight
Programs Alexei Krasnov declared that Laliberte had already started training
in the Research Test Center after Yu.A. Gagarin in the Star City. In the
course of flight Laliberte is going to draw attention of the whole world
to the water resources problem as part of space research "using ingenious
political approach". His reports will highlight initiatives undertaken
by the fund "One Drop", whose motto is the following: "water for all, everything
- for water". The fund mission is to fight against poverty, for getting
access to water and increased awareness of crucial problems concerning
water.
September 2009
Based on data of site astronaut.ru |
