  kay rala xanana gusmÃ£o  (, born josÃ© alexandre gusmÃ£o, , on 20 june 1946) is an east timorese politician. a former militant, he was the first president of east timor, serving from may 2002 to may 2007. he has been the fourth prime minister of east timor since 8 august 2007."gusmao sworn in as east timor pm", al jazeera, 8 august 2007. ==early life and career== gusmÃ£o was born to mestiÃ§o school teacher parents (of mixed portuguese-timorese ancestry) in manatuto in what was then portuguese timor, and attended a jesuit high school just outside of dili. after leaving high-school for financial reasons at the age of fifteen, he held a variety of unskilled jobs, while continuing his education at night school. in 1965, at the age of 19, he met emilia batista, who was later to become his wife. his nickname, "xanana", was taken from the name of the american rock and roll band sha na na, who in turn were named after a lyric from a doo-wop song of 1957 by the silhouettes. in 1966, gusmÃ£o obtained a position with the public service, which allowed him to continue his education. this was interrupted in 1968 when gusmÃ£o was recruited by the portuguese army for
1946_births East_Timorese_Christian_socialists East_Timorese_Roman_Catholics East_Timorese_people_of_Portuguese_descent East_Timorese_politicians Honorary_Companions_of_the_New_Zealand_Order_of_Merit Honorary_Knights_Grand_Cross_of_the_Order_of_St_Michael_and_St_George Humanitarians Living_people Presidents_of_East_Timor Prime_Ministers_of_East_Timor Recipients_of_the_Sakharov_Prize Revolutionary_Front_for_an_Independent_East_Timor_politicians