'˜Peace Walker' visits Bogside museum

Arthur Bogomil Burton pictured at the Museum of Free Derry with Julieann Campbell and John Kelly.

The activist escaped his native Bulgaria on the roof of a train during the era of the Iron Curtain, never to return.

He has since spent more than 23 years walking the world on foot as a means of promoting world peace - including his recent walk through Ireland to its furthest northern point at Malin Head.

‘I have walked more than 45,000 kilometres over six continents,’ Arthur explained.

‘My first walk was for Mother Earth across the US in 1992. A group of us walked from the United Nations in New York to the nuclear test site in Nevada to highlight how America tested their nuclear bombs on Indian land without permission.’

Arthur’s travels have taken him to all corners of the earth – from the Middle East and Asia to South America and, now, Ireland.

A pacifist and conscientious objector, he travels with two peace flags in tow – the World Citizen flag and the Earth flag.

‘I walk to promote peace, firstly my own inner peace, and, also to promote peace and reconciliation among people of the earth. We must first find inner peace before eventually creating world peace. One cannot work without the other.’

Countries that Arthur has walked in include: Albania, Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Suriname, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine, Uruguay, and Venezuela.