Tom Lantos
| Tom Lantos | |
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| Chairman of the House Committee on International Relations | |
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In office January 3, 2007 – February 11, 2008 |
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| Speaker | Nancy Pelosi |
| Preceded by | Henry Hyde |
| Succeeded by | Howard Berman |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 12th district |
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In office January 3, 1993 – February 11, 2008 |
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| Preceded by | Tom Campbell |
| Succeeded by | Jackie Speier |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 11th district |
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In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1993 |
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| Preceded by | William Royer |
| Succeeded by | Richard Pombo |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Lantos Tamás Péter February 1, 1928 Budapest, Hungary |
| Died | February 11, 2008 (aged 80) National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Annette Lantos (m. 1950-2008; his death; 2 daughters) |
| Alma mater | University of Washington, University of California, Berkeley |
| Occupation | Politician, activist, consultant |
Thomas Peter "Tom" Lantos (February 1, 1928 – February 11, 2008) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from California, serving from 1981 until his death as the representative from a district that included the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and a portion of southwestern San Francisco. Lantos had announced in early January 2008 that he would not run for reelection because of cancer of the esophagus, but died before finishing his term. A Hungarian-American, Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor to have served in the United States Congress.
In speaking before the House of Representatives after his death, House 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." 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".
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 2011, the Tom Lantos Institute was set up in Budapest to promote tolerance and support minority issues in central and eastern Europe and in the world.
Lantos was born Lantos Tamás Péter (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈlɒntoʃ ˈtɒmaːʃ ˈpeːtɛr]) into a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary, the son of Anna, a high school teacher of English, and Pal Lantos, a banker. His family was heavily involved in education and included an uncle who was a professor at the University of Budapest and a grandmother who was a high school principal. His life in Hungary would change after the Third Reich annexing of Austria in 1938, with the Austrian border just 100 miles from Budapest. Lantos remembered this period and a newspaper headline he read when he was only 10, "Hitler Marches into Austria". Even at a young age, he understood the significance of this invasion:
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