Volodymyd Zelensky and the spirit of Ukraine earned TIME magazine’s Person of the Year in 2022. The same issue highlighted Iranian women as Heroes of the Year. Zelensky’s belief in staying put, even when danger looms, stands out. The idea that a captain should be the last to leave the ship is invoked, signaling different kinds of leadership. The magazine notes how Ukraine helped unite the world in defense of freedom and reminded readers how fragile democracy and peace can be.
Today marks 95 years since TIME released its first Man of the Year cover. Back then, Spaniards played a lead role under the title The Protester, a nod to a wave of popular activism that began with the Arab Spring and echoed through Madrid, London, and Athens at a time of economic strain and humanitarian challenges. Public discontent with austerity policies and corruption in Spain led to a surge of demonstrations and a new sense that the people could shape history. TIME’s cover reflected that moment when 350,000 eviction cases and a sense of public disillusionment collided with mass mobilization that carried colors like white, green, orange, and burgundy on the streets.
In 1938, the magazine also featured Hitler on the cover, describing the figure as the greatest threat to democracies and freedom-loving nations. The idea behind Person of the Year is to spotlight the most influential forces shaping life, for better or worse. A quick glance at any newspaper makes it clear that history is rarely simply good or bad, but always influential.
Being on the TIME cover can be a symbol of honor or stigma. In Spain, the Association of State Social Services Managers and Executives hands down a separate recognition for such negative impact. The Heart of Stone award honors individuals or institutions that have shown the sharpest insensitivity and caused significant suffering to vulnerable groups. Early this year, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, was named the recipient for what TIME described as mismanaging nursing homes during the pandemic and for policies related to organ transplants. Critics argued that patient selection based on age, addiction level, or intellectual disability rather than clinical criteria worsened outcomes, contributing to a large number of deaths in geriatric centers. The award stands as a stark reminder of the human stakes involved when governance falters.
More recently, the award focused on a development that marks a thousand days since the Ayuso administration approved a protocol that led to thousands of elderly residents dying without timely medical attention between March and April 2020. This triage approach meant that some hospital admissions were delayed or refused, a policy contested even within public health systems. The Madrid Supreme Court later ordered hospitals to treat residents, yet critiques argue the system still fell short in protecting the vulnerable.
Ayuso defended the government in the Madrid Assembly, insisting that policies should not be trivialized and that public health demands seriousness. Amnesty International has condemned multiple human rights concerns in housing and health, including issues around life quality, non-discrimination, privacy, and an end to unnecessary suffering. A recent report highlights excessive mortality in nursing homes, reporting that deaths were significantly higher than the national average.
The Madrid government has resisted calls to form a commission to investigate these deaths, with officials arguing that opening investigations could send a harmful message and overburden families. The narrative threads together moments of public service and controversy, where sometimes a small role in a television show or a social media moment can turn into a reflection of larger political realities.
This ongoing story links time’s depiction of fearless defenders of freedom and democracy to the everyday choices of leaders, citizens, and public workers. What began as a simple anecdote becomes a broader history of how societies respond to crises and how the actions of a few can echo through generations. Heroes and villains blur on the page and in public memory. Some people stay; others leave, some wear white coats, and others appear as figures in a larger, repeating narrative of governance and consequence. In November last year, thousands of exhausted healthcare workers and patients marked a quiet moment of remembrance for those who died in nursing homes during the pandemic, underscoring the human cost behind political decisions.
And so the story continues to unfold. The true defenders of freedom and democracy emerge in unexpected ways, reminding readers that history is not stuck in the past but is written anew by each choice and each act of resilience.