PARIS: Key dates in the life of Brazil's ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as "Lula", as he awaits the outcome of an appeal against corruption Wednesday.
- October, 1945: Born to a poor farming family in the Brazil's northeast. His family moves when he is seven to the state of Sao Paulo to escape hunger.
- 1975: Becomes president of the metal workers' union, a sector in which he has worked since the age of 14.
- 1978-80: At the height of the military dictatorship, leads major strikes in the industrial suburbs. He is jailed for a month.
- 1980: Co-founds the leftist Workers' Party (PT); takes part in 1983 in the creation of the Unified Workers' Central (CUT), which becomes Brazil's largest trade union federation.
- 1986: Elected to parliament.
- October 2002: Becomes Brazil's first leftist president. Re-elected in 2006.
- 2005: Ousts the Workers' Party leadership after corruption scandals.
- March 2016: The Supreme Court blocks his appointment as chief of staff to president Dilma Rousseff, his handpicked successor. She is impeached in August.
- July 12, 2017: Sentenced to nine-and-a-half years in prison for money-laundering and taking bribes. He appeals and says he will stand for the presidency in 2018.
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