Tom Lantos
Thomas Peter "Tom" Lantos (born February 1, 1928 in Budapest ; † February 11, 2008 in Bethesda , Maryland ; actually: Lantos Tamás Péter ) was an American politician of Hungarian origin.
Life
Lantos came from a Jewish family. In 1944 he was forced to a Hungarian labor camp in Szob . He fled back to Budapest, where he hid in the apartment of an aunt who lived in a star house protected by Raoul Wallenberg . Most of his relatives were victims of persecution by the Hungarian anti-Semites and Arrow Cross members . In 1981, Lantos ensured that Wallenberg was posthumously made an honorary citizen of the United States. Lantos was interviewed for the 1998 documentary The Last Days .
After the end of World War II , he began studying at Budapest University , but went to the United States in 1947. Here he studied economics at the University of Washington . He received his doctorate in 1953 from the University of California, Berkeley .
Since 1981 he was a congressman of the Democrats , the beginning of the 11th, then the 12th electoral district of California . In Congress , he led the influential Foreign Affairs Committee. In 2002 he supported the resolution for the Iraq war , which he later criticized.
In 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem .
He died of esophageal cancer at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda . His grave is in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC In June 2008, President George W. Bush posthumously awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom .
Political positions
Because of his political views, Lantos was seen as one of the more liberal congressmen, including a .:
- he considered the protection of human rights to be a political task of central importance,
- he supported the legalization of abortion and stem cell research ,
- he spoke out against the constitution of the PATRIOT Act ,
- he supported the rights of sexual minorities including marriage and adoption law,
- he spoke out against the death penalty ,
- he advocated the legalization of so-called " soft drugs " for medical purposes,
- he spoke out in favor of restricting the right to own weapons.
Web links
- Tom Lantos in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
- On the Issues ( Memento from October 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- MP Tom Lantos has died . In: Der Standard , February 11, 2008
- Tom Lanto's Biography. US Representative (1928-2008). biography.com, accessed on May 27, 2018 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Biography Channel ( Memento of the original from January 18, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 2010.
- ↑ a b c Rep. Tom Lantos of California dies at 80. cnn.de, February 11, 2008, accessed on May 27, 2018 (English).
- ^ Homepage of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Congress (English).
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Lantos, Tom |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lantos, Thomas Pete |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Hungarian-American politician |
DATE OF BIRTH | February 1, 1928 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Budapest |
DATE OF DEATH | February 11, 2008 |
Place of death | Bethesda , Maryland |