Tomáš Hellebrandt (born 7 April 1982) is a Slovak economist and politician. From 2023 to 2024, he served as a

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the National Council.

Biography

Early life and education

Tomáš Hellebrandt was born on 7 April 1982 in

Žilina Žilina (; hu, Zsolna, ; german: Sillein, or ; pl, Żylina , names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Sl ...

. At the age of ten he moved with his parents to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, where he grew up. Hellebrandt studied economics at

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. Following graduation, he worked as an economist at the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

and later at the

Peterson Institute for International Economics The Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), known until 2006 as the Institute for International Economics (IIE), is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded by C. Fred Bergsten in 1981 and has been led by ...

. Between 2017 and 2022, Hellebrandt worked as an analyst at the Ministry of Finance in Slovakia. He left the ministry after criticizing the minister

Igor Matovič Igor Matovič (born May 11, 1973) is a Slovak politician and former businessman. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Minister of Finance from April 2021 to December 2022 and Prime Minister from March 2020 to March 2021. ...

for ignoring the evidence presented by the staff of the ministry and cooperating with extreme right politicians to push his agenda through the parliament. The president Zuzana Čaputová subsequently criticized the government for creating a hostile environment for senior civil servants.

Political career

Following his departure from the ministry, Hellebrandt joined the

Progressive Slovakia Progressive Slovakia ( sk, Progresívne Slovensko) is a social-liberal, progressive, pro-European political party in Slovakia established in 2017. The party is led by European Parliament vice-president Michal Šimečka. In the European Parliamen ...

party and became its economic expert. In the election campaign leading up to the

2023 Slovak parliamentary election Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Slovakia on 30 September 2023 to elect members of the National Council. The 2020 Slovak parliamentary election resulted in a coalition government led by the Ordinary People and Independent ...

, Hellebrandt became a target of fake news. The far right online influencer Daniel Bombic claimed Hellebrandt either died or was close to death after receiving the fourth dose of vaccine against

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Hellebrandt and his political party responded to the rumor by confirming Hellebrandt was in perfect health and criticizing those spreading the rumor for causing needless stress to Hellebrandt's family. After winning a mandate in the election, Hellebrandt wore a rainbow ribbon on his jacket during the swear in ceremony. On 6 February 2024, Hellebrandt resigned his MP seat after failing to disclose an infectious illness while being treated at a hospital in Žilina.

Private life

Hellebrandt considers himself "a proud member of the rainbow community". Together with his fellow Progressive Slovakia MP Lucia Plaváková , he is the third openly gay member of the Slovak parliament, after

Edita Angyalová Edita Angyalová (born 8 August 1979 in Košice) is a Slovak entrepreneur, manager with 20+years of experience, and an ex-politician, former MP of the National Council. Political career In 2002, she was elected to parliament on the Direction ...

and

Stanislav Fořt Stanislav Fořt (born 29 August 1977) is a Slovak politician who served as a Member of parliament, Member of the National Council (Slovakia), National Council in 2010 to 2012. Life and education Fořt was born in Martin, Slovakia, Martin. He s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellebrandt, Tomas 1982 births Living people Progressive Slovakia politicians Slovak LGBT politicians Gay politicians Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2023–2027 People from Žilina Slovak gay men 21st-century Slovak LGBT people Alumni of the University of Oxford Alumni of the London School of Economics LGBT legislators