Fundamental democratic values, such as freedom and minority rights, access to education and the freedom of creative, artistic work played an important role in Dr. Éva Kahán’s life. The Dr. Éva Kahán Foundation cherishes her memory by promoting the values represented by her.

Éva Kahán was born in Budapest in 1955. She grew up in communist Hungary and experienced first-hand what it means to the individual when the state strips its own citizens of their fundamental freedoms. Her resolute sense of justice expressed itself early, and so she decided to serve these causes through her professional activity. She studied law in Budapest, then worked as a lawyer first in Hungary and later in Vienna, where she also moved her family after some time.

Even after Hungary started walking the path of liberal democracy in 1989, it remained a pivotal point for Éva Kahán that the freedom of society doesn’t come automatically, it has to be fought for and won over and over again.

Dr. Éva Kahán died in Vienna in 2004. Today, her family lives in Austria, Hungary and the United States.