The native form of this personal name is Lantos Tamás Péter. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Tom Lantos
Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
In office January 3, 2007 – February 11, 2008
Preceded by
Henry Hyde
Succeeded by
Howard Berman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California
In office January 3, 1981 – February 11, 2008
Preceded by
William Royer
Succeeded by
Jackie Speier
Constituency
11th district(1981–1993) 12th district(1993–2008)
Personal details
Born
Tamás Péter Lantos
(1928-02-01)February 1, 1928 Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary
Died
February 11, 2008(2008-02-11) (aged 80) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Political party
Democratic
Spouse
Annette Tillemann
(m. 1950)
Children
2 daughters, including Katrina Swett
Relatives
Tomicah Tillemann (grandson) Levi Tillemann (grandson) Charity Tillemann-Dick (granddaughter)
Education
Eötvös Loránd University University of Washington, Seattle (BA, MA) University of California, Berkeley (PhD)
Tom Lantos's voice
Lantos speaks on the 10th anniversary of Latvia's independence from the Soviet Union Recorded July 17, 2000
Thomas Peter Lantos (born Tamás Péter Lantos; February 1, 1928 – February 11, 2008)[1] was a Hungarian-born American politician who served as a U.S. representative from California from 1981 until his death in 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the state's 11th congressional district until 1993, and from then the 12th congressional district, which both included the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and a portion of the southwestern part of San Francisco after redistricting.
Lantos, who served as Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in his last term, announced in early January 2008 that he would not run for re-election because of cancer of the esophagus. He died before finishing his term.[2][3] A Hungarian Jew, Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor to have served in the United States Congress; he survived the genocide with help from Raoul Wallenberg.[4] In speaking before the House of Representatives after his death, Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated that Lantos "devoted his public life to shining a bright light on the dark corners of oppression. He used his powerful voice to stir the consciousness of world leaders and the public alike."[5] U2 lead singer Bono called him a "prizefighter", whose stamina would make him go "any amount of rounds, with anyone, anywhere, to protect human rights and common decency".[6]
In 2008, after his death, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which he founded in 1983, was renamed the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Its mission is partly "to promote, defend, and advocate internationally recognized human rights". In the final weeks of his life, Lantos asked that a non-profit be established to carry on the work he felt so passionately about. The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice was founded later that year to carry out that wish. In 2011, the Tom Lantos Institute was set up in Budapest to promote tolerance and support minority issues in Central Europe and Eastern Europe, as well as around the world.[7]
^"Tom Lantos Dies". Associated Press. February 11, 2008. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress, died early Monday morning, his spokeswoman said.
^Lantos, stricken with cancer, to retire at the end of the year San Francisco Chronicle, January 2, 2008; retrieved January 2, 2008.
^Simon, Richard (January 3, 2008). "California's Lantos says cancer will prevent another House run". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2008.
^Louis Sandy Maisel; et al. (2001). Jews in American Politics. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780742501812. Retrieved May 21, 2011. "The only Holocaust survivor to serve in the United States Congress, Tom Lantos was born February 1, 1928, in Budapest. Just 16 years old when the Nazis invaded Hungary, Lantos was active in the underground resistance, before he was imprisoned in a Nazi labor camp in Hungary."
^Representative Nancy Pelosi, "The World Lost One Of Its Greatest Champions Of Human Rights" on YouTube video, 7 min.
^"Bono Remembers the Honorable Tom Lantos" on YouTube video clip, 2 minutes
^"Tom Lantos Institute set up in Budapest", Politics.hu, May 2, 2011
Thomas Peter Lantos (born Tamás Péter Lantos; February 1, 1928 – February 11, 2008) was a Hungarian-born American politician who served as a U.S. representative...
Rights Caucus was founded in 1983 by TomLantos, a California Democrat, and John Porter, an Illinois Republican. Lantos was Hungarian by birth and had the...
The TomLantos Tunnels are two tunnels located within the coastal promontory of Montara Mountain, on the San Francisco Peninsula in California, United...
interview, Lantos stated that he had concealed Nayirah's identity at the request of her father in order to protect her family and friends. Lantos denied any...
TomLantos, who announced on January 2, 2008, that he was not seeking reelection. Speier had spent much of 2007 building support to challenge Lantos in...
Lantos is a Hungarian surname. Notable people with the surname include: Csaba Lantos (born 1943), Hungarian volleyball player Csaba Lantos (born 1962)...
Yvonne Katrina Swett (née Lantos; born October 8, 1955) is the President of the Lantos Foundation. She is also an American educator and the former chair...
half-sister, traveled to the United States to campaign with Lantos. The efforts of Lantos and Lagergren eventually led to the creation of the Free Wallenberg...
destination was chosen upon the recommendation of Hungarian-born Biden staffer TomLantos. Joe and Jill Biden have one daughter together, Ashley Blazer (born 1981)...
survivors Bill Basch, Irene Zisblatt, Renée Firestone, Alice Lok Cahana, TomLantos, Randolph Braham, and Dario Gabbai. The filmmakers take the first five...
Sikorski–Mayski agreement United States Holocaust Memorial Museum HON. TOMLANTOS, in the House of Representatives. 21 April, 1994[permanent dead link]...
in 2006 led to a four-month closure. The TomLantos Tunnels, named after former U.S. Congressman TomLantos, opened in 2013 to bypass the area. In 2011...
from Loyola University Chicago[citation needed] 2011 – TomLantos Human Rights Prize from the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice Rusesabagina's...
legislative subcommittee hearings and presided over hearings involving TomLantos, his eventual successor in the House. Ryan pushed through significant...
Retrieved 1 June 2019. "Written Testimony of Maria McFarland to the TomLantos Human Rights Commission on the Human Rights Crisis in Syria". Human Rights...
on Intelligence. Hyde and the Committee's senior Democrat, U.S. Rep. TomLantos (D-CA), authored America's worldwide response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in...
case of Dr. Gubad at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. TomLantos Human Rights Commission is monitoring Gubad Ibadoghlu's case with Freedom...
"Bundesgesetz zur Förderung von freiwilligem Engagement". "TomLantos Institute TomLantos Institute". TomLantos Institute. Retrieved 2023-04-26. "Home". Ashraya...
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