Kinga Göncz (born 8 November 1947) is a Hungarian academic and the former

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary The minister of foreign affairs of Hungary () is a member of the Government of Hungary, Hungarian cabinet and the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The current foreign minister is Péter Szijjártó. The position was called People's Comm ...

between 2006 and 2009. In 2009 she headed the

Hungarian Socialist Party The Hungarian Socialist Party (, ), commonly known by its acronym MSZP (), is a centre-left to left-wing social-democratic and pro-European political party in Hungary. It was founded on 7 October 1989 as a post-communist evolution and one of t ...

(MSZP) European election list and was subsequently elected as one of 22 Hungarian

Members of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Comm ...

(MEPs).

Early life and education

Göncz was born on 8 November 1947 in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. She is the daughter of

Árpád Göncz Árpád Göncz (; 10 February 1922 – 6 October 2015) was a Hungarian writer, translator, lawyer and liberal politician who served as President of Hungary from 2 May 1990 to 4 August 2000. Göncz played a role in the Hungarian Revolution of 19 ...

, former

President of Hungary The president of Hungary, officially the president of the republicUnder the Basic Law, adopted in 2011, the official name of the state is simply Hungary; Before, the state was called the Republic of Hungary. However, the office is nonetheless ...

, the son of tennis player Lajos Göncz. She graduated from the

Semmelweis University Semmelweis University (Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Semmelweis Egyetem'', ) is a research-led medical school in Budapest, Hungary, founded in 1769. With six faculties and a doctoral school it covers all aspects of medical and health sciences. ...

of Medicine in Budapest in 1972. In 1978, she specialized in psychiatry, in the second half of the 1980s, specialized in psychotherapy. In 2004 she obtained the diploma in psychotherapy of the

European Association for Psychotherapy The European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP) is a Vienna-based umbrella organisation for some 430 European psychotherapist organizations (including 33 national associations, 18 European associations and 80 EAP accredited training institutes) fr ...

Academic career

Göncz worked as a psychiatrist between 1972 and 1978. Following this, she became a senior assistant at the National Medical Rehabilitation Institute, and took part in the development of the first social policy educational programs. Since 1989 she worked as an associate professor at the Social Policy and Social Work Department of the Institute for Sociology of ELTE University, Budapest, teaching among others communication skills development, mediation and organization development. From 1994 to 2002 she worked as the Director of Partners Hungary. The organization is a member of Partners for Democratic Change International an international network, with the goal of the education of the culture of creative conflict management, techniques of democracy, negotiation techniques and change management. Within this, Göncz worked on the establishment of centers for the prevention and management of social conflicts in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and in the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. She lectured at several universities abroad since 1990. Between 1998 and 2003, she taught the Social Psychology of Prejudice at the Human Rights Department at the

Central European University Central European University (CEU; , ) is a private research university in Vienna. The university offers graduate and undergraduate programs in the social sciences and humanities, which are accredited in Austria and the United States. The univ ...

Political career

Göncz was appointed Political State Secretary of the Ministry for Health, Social and Family Affairs responsible for civil co-ordination in 2002. She was responsible for: the elaboration of the system of keeping contacts with state and non-governmental social policy related organizations, the professional leading of the work for the amendment of the law on social affairs, and the heading of the National Council on Aging and Older People, the Social Council, the National Council for the Issues of Disabled Persons and the Ministry's Tripartite Council for the Reconciliation of Interests. From 2004 she served as

Minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

for equal opportunities, responsible for disabled persons,

Romanis {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , p ...

, the equal opportunities of women and men, co-operation with

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

s, and for the co-ordination of the fight against poverty and segregation. Between 2004 and 2006 she was the minister of youth, family, social affairs and equal opportunities in the first cabinet of Prime Minister

Ferenc Gyurcsány Ferenc Gyurcsány (; born 4 June 1961) is a Hungarian entrepreneur and retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 2004 to 2009. Prior to that, he held the position of Government of Hungary, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sp ...

. During her assignment at this position, she was responsible, besides the areas she managed as minister without portfolio for equal opportunities, for the heading of the

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

system, the system of family support, the area of caring for children and youth, the affairs of the elderly and

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

s, the question of drugs, as well as consumer protection. From 2006 to 2009 she served as

minister of foreign affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

Member of the European Parliament

Göncz became a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

following the

2009 European elections 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

. A member of the

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the Political groups of the European Parliament, political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and ...

group, she served as vice-chairwoman of the

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

. Between 2010 and 2012, she was also a member of the Special Committee on the policy challenges and budgetary resources for a sustainable European Union after 2013. In addition to her committee assignments, Göncz was a member of the parliament's delegation for relations with

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

and

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

Life after politics

In November 2015, Göncz was appointed by

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

to the High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines, co-chaired by

Ruth Dreifuss Ruth Dreifuss (born 9 January 1940) is a Swiss economist, unionist and politician who served as a member of the Federal Council from 1993 to 2002. She served as Vice President of Switzerland in 1998 and as President of Switzerland in 1999 for t ...

, former President of

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and

Festus Mogae Festus Gontebanye Mogae (born 21 August 1939) is a Motswana politician and economist who served as the third President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008. He succeeded Quett Masire as President in 1998 and was re-elected in October 2004. After ten ...

, former President of

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

.Secretary-General Appoints Two Former Presidents, 14 Others as Members of High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, press release of 19 November 2015. In addition, Göncz is on the Advisory Board Chair of Roma Programs for George Soros' Open Society Foundations.

Personal life

Fluent in English and German, Göncz is married, the mother of two adult children, and the grandmother of four boys.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goncz, Kinga 1947 births Living people Kinga Politicians from Budapest Hungarian psychiatrists Ministers of foreign affairs of Hungary Hungarian Socialist Party MEPs Women MEPs for Hungary Children of presidents Female foreign ministers Women government ministers of Hungary Hungarian women diplomats 21st-century Hungarian politicians Academic staff of Eötvös Loránd University