Everything To Know About Zuzana Caputova, Slovakia’s First Female President
Slovakia has elected its first female president, Zuzana Caputova, an anti-corruption lawyer who got into politics only a year ago.
Caputova defeated Maros Sefcovic, a high profile diplomat and and Slovakia’s EU commissioner who was also nominated by the governing party, 58% – 42%. This feat makes her the first woman to hold the presidency, as well as the youngest president in the history of Slovakia.
The 45-year-old was motivated to get involved in politics after the death of a journalist Jan Kuciak in February of 2018. Kuciak was investigating links between politicians and organised crime when him and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova were fatally shot.
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Here are a few facts about her.
- Zuzana Strapáková was born into a working class family, in Bratislava. She grew up in the nearby town of Pezinok.
- She studied law at the Comenius University in Bratislava, graduating from its Faculty of Law in 1996. Between 1998 and 1999, she completed the training cycle “General Management – Management of Change” and in 1999 the ARK – Mediation course, accredited by the Ministry of Education of Slovakia.
- After concluding her education, Čaputová worked in the local government of Pezinok, first as an assistant in the legal department, and later as a deputy to the town mayor.
- Between 2001 and 2017, she worked with Via Iuris, a civic organization, since 2010 as a lawyer, and with Greenpeace on campaign planning.
- In December 2017, she announced her entry into the emerging political party Progressive Slovakia, and in January 2018, she was elected as a Vice-Chairwoman at the party’s first congress
- Caputova is a member of the liberal Progressive Slovakia party, which has no seats in parliament.
She’ll be sworn in June 15th.
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