Sandra Roelofs
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Sandra Elisabeth Saakashvili-Roelofs (born December 23, 1968 in Terneuzen , Netherlands ) is the wife of the former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili . The doctor of linguistics worked as a radio presenter and performed representational duties for Georgia with her husband. Since 2008 she has had both Dutch and Georgian citizenship.
Life and accomplishments
Roelofs grew up in a wealthy family. In her youth she worked as a saleswoman in a bakery. In 1991 she graduated from the State Economic Institute for Translators in Brussels and worked as a translator for German and French .
In 1993 Roelofs met her future husband, Micheil Saakashvili, at the International Institute for Human Rights in Strasbourg , moved with him to New York City and married at the end of the same year. She worked there at Columbia University and for a Dutch law firm.
In 1996 the couple moved to the Georgian capital Tbilisi . Roelofs worked for the Dutch consulate and the Dutch radio, organized an exchange program for managers from the Netherlands and was soon considered the Netherlands' first unofficial ambassador to Georgia. To this day, she maintains contact with her country of birth, and in October 2004 established a partnership between the port cities of Poti (Georgia) and Terneuzen and Vlissingen (Netherlands).
On behalf of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies , Roelofs worked on the development of welfare structures in Georgia. In 1997 she founded the non-profit foundation SOCO , which is dedicated to school children, large families, refugees and elderly people in need. In 2004 she collected donations for the international HALO foundation for clearing landmines , took over the patronage for an anti- AIDS program in Georgia and the jazz festival in Tbilisi.
From 1999 to 2003 Roelofs was visiting professor at the State University of Tbilisi , wrote a doctoral thesis on linguistic aspects of the French language in Belgium and taught French at the Caucasus School of Business . From 2005 to 2008 she completed a nursing degree in Tbilisi. In 2007 she founded the first classical radio station in Transcaucasia , Radio Musa . Once a week she hosted her own program there.
Together with Saakashvili, Roelofs has two sons (* 1995 and 2005). In addition to her mother tongue , she speaks Georgian , English , German, French and Russian .
Fonts
- Sandra Elisabeth Roelofs: De first lady van Georgië: Het verhaal van een idealiste . Uitgeverij Archipel, Amsterdam / Antwerp 2005, ISBN 90-6305-170-0
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Roelofs, Sandra |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Saakashvili-Roelofs, Sandra Elisabeth (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch-Georgian wife of the former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 23rd December 1968 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Terneuzen , Netherlands |