Róża von Thun und Hohenstein | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the European Parliament forLesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie | |
| In office 14 July 2009 – 16 July 2024 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Róża MariaWoźniakowska (1954-04-13)13 April 1954 (age 71) Kraków, Poland |
| Nationality |  Polish |
| Political party | Civic Platform (until 2021) Poland 2050 (since 2021) |
| Other political affiliations | Renew Europe |
| Spouse | Franz vonThun-Hohenstein |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | Jagiellonian University |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Signature |  |
| Website | www.rozathun.pl |
Róża Maria Thun[1] (Róża Maria Barbara Fürstin von Thun und Hohenstein,néeWoźniakowska, born 13 April 1954), is a Polish politician, more usually known asRóża Thun than by her formalstyle ofCountess and from 1990 her style changed toPrincess.
Thun has served as aMember of the European Parliament (MEP) forPoland, representingCivic Platform since 2009, being returned toBrussels at the2014 European elections.
Previously, Róża Thun was involved in twoanti-communist organizations (theStudent Committee of Solidarity and theWorkers' Defence Committee) in thePeople's Republic of Poland.
After thefall of Communism, she was the chairwoman of the Polish Robert Schuman Foundation, anon-governmental organization promotingEuropean integration.
Thun was also the head of theEuropean Commissionrepresentation to Poland between 2005 and 2009. Since 2011 she has been Vice President of theEuropean Movement International.
Thun was born Róża Woźniakowska,Prawdzic coat of arms on 13 April 1954 atKraków,Poland.[1][2]
Her father, aPolish nobleman, Jacek Woźniakowski (1920-2012), was aprofessor in theCatholic University of Lublin (who also served asMayor of Kraków for 1990-1991).[2]
Her mother, Countess Maria Karolina ofPlater-Zyberk (b. 1925), was abiologist and an expert on the species ofbats.[2]
In 1981, Thun married Franz, 5thPrince vonThun und Hohenstein (b. 1948), aneconomist. As the Head of the family, he nominally holds the title ofPrince inAustria andImperial Count.[3]
Through her mother, Franz and Róża are 3rd cousins, as both share mutual descent from Count Friedrich Franz vonThun und Hohenstein (1810-1881) and his wife, Countess Leopoldine vonLamberg (1825-1902).[4][5]
Her formalstyle by courtesy upon marriage becameRosa Gräfin von Thun und Hohenstein:Gräfin is the German equivalent rank toCountess.
In 1990, when her husband succeeded as the Head of the family and nominally becameFürst, her style changed toRosa Fürstin von Thun und Hohenstein.[6]
They have four children: Christoph, Maria Zita, Sophie Amélie, and Jadwiga Wanda.[2]
In 1979, Woźniakowska graduated from theJagiellonian University with aMaster's degree inEnglish Philology.[1][2] She became a member, and later spokesperson, of theStudent Committee of Solidarity in Kraków.[1] Between 1977 and 1980, she was active on theWorkers' Defence Committee[1] (an organization aiding political prisoners and their families).
Between 1992 and 2005, Thun was Director-General and Chairwoman of the Polish Robert Schuman Foundation (Polish:Polska Fundacja imienia Roberta Schumana),[1] anon-governmental organization promotingEuropean integration.[2] From 1998 to 2000, she served onWarsaw City Council,[1] and from 2005 until 2009, she was the head of theEuropean CommissionRepresentation toPoland.[1]
Thun was elected aEuropean Parliament Member (MEP) at theEuropean elections of 2009. She won some 150,000 votes in theLesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie constituency which she represents.[7] Although Thun stood on theCivic Platform parliamentary list, she only joined the party following her election;[7] she left the party in 2021.[8]
As anMEP, Thun is a member of theCommittee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. In addition to her committee assignments, she is part of the parliament's delegations for relations withIsrael and to theEuro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly.[1] She is also a member of the European Internet Forum[9] and theSpinelli Group.
Citing disagreements over key policy areas like environmental protection, Thun left the Civic Platform, and later also the European People’s Party group, to joinPoland 2050 andRenew Europe in 2021.[10]
On 26 April 2009 – less than two months before the European elections –Ryszard Czarnecki, a Polish MEP for theLaw and Justice Party, wrote ablog entry, describing Thun's "troubles" with the Polish National Electoral Commission.[11] According to Czarnecki, the Civic Platform intended to register her candidacy under the name ofRóża Thun,[11] but the Commission refused, stating that according to the regulations, all candidates must appear under their full names on the ballot papers.[11] "And so, the voters will see Róża Maria Gräfin von Thun und Hohenstein in her full grace",[11] Czarnecki wrote. He further asserted that "a Gräfin with a German-sounding name might do harm to the Civic Platform".[12][13]
On 20 May 2009, it was revealed that Czarnecki himself would appear on the ballot sheets not under his assumed Polish name of Ryszard Henryk, but as Richard Henry, since he was born in theUnited Kingdom.[13][14] Czarnecki stated that his situation is different, as he didn't choose his names, while Thun chose her surname by marrying her husband.[14] Thun retorted her name came out of love,[14] adding "I pity Richard Henry Czarnecki".[14]
In January 2018, Czarnecki compared Thun to aszmalcownik, people who blackmailed Jews in hiding during the Holocaust, for her criticism of the Polish government. As a result of these comments, Thun received death threats. In 2019, Czarnecki lost a libel case against Thun.[15]
In November 2017, Thun joined a parliamentary majority by voting in favor of a resolution invokingArticle 7 of the Treaty on European Union, thereby potentially stripping Poland of voting rights in the EU for violating the common values of the bloc, including the rule of law.[16] Shortly after, her political opponents had pictures of Thun and five other Polish politicians strung from a makeshift gallows in a public square inKatowice.[16]
In 2020, Thun was among nearly six EPP members who voted to expelTamás Deutsch from their parliamentary group after the latter had compared comments made by group leaderManfred Weber to the slogans of theGestapo and Hungary’s communist-era secret police; Deutsch was eventually suspended but not expelled from the group.[17]
Officer,Order of Polonia Restituta
Officer,Ordre national du Mérite (France)
Grand Officer,Order of the Crown (Belgium)
Knight,Order of Merit (Italy)Thun has been nominated for the prize of "best MEP" in 2011 and in 2013 byThe Parliament Magazine in the Internal Market and Consumer Protection category. These prizes have been awarded since 2005, and nominations are made by European organizations, associations and institutions which monitor the workings of the EP. 3 names are shortlisted in each category, with MEPs voting for the winner. In 2017 she won the award in the internal market category.[19]
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