Elizabeth Jane Kucinich (née
Harper; born October 22, 1977 in
North OckendonNorth Ockendon is an outlying settlement of northeast London, England and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east northeast of Charing Cross and consists of a dispersed settlement within the metropolitan green belt. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Essex,...
,
HaveringThe London Borough of Havering is a London borough in East London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in Havering is Romford and the other main communities are Hornchurch, Upminster and Rainham. The borough is mainly characterised by suburban development with large areas of...
,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
) is the wife of
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Congressman and former Democratic Presidential candidate
Dennis KucinichDennis John Kucinich is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives and was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2004 and 2008 elections....
. They married on August 21, 2005.
Born
Elizabeth Harper, she was brought up in
North OckendonNorth Ockendon is an outlying settlement of northeast London, England and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east northeast of Charing Cross and consists of a dispersed settlement within the metropolitan green belt. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Essex,...
in the
London Borough of HaveringThe London Borough of Havering is a London borough in East London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in Havering is Romford and the other main communities are Hornchurch, Upminster and Rainham. The borough is mainly characterised by suburban development with large areas of...
. In 1996 she went to Agra, India, to volunteer at one of
Mother TeresaMother Teresa , born Agnesë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu , was an Albanian Roman Catholic nun with Indian citizenship who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata , India in 1950...
's homes for
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
's poorest children. Upon earning her bachelor's and master's degrees at the
University of Kent at CanterburyThe University of Kent is a plate glass campus university in Kent, England.-Name:The university's original name, chosen in 1962, was the University of Kent at Canterbury, reflecting the fact that the campus straddled the boundary between the county borough of Canterbury and Kent County Council...
, she spent 16 months in a rural
TanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in central East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.The United...
n village and worked as an advocate for
regional developmentRegional development is the provision of aid and other assistance to regions which are less economically developed. Regional development may be domestic or international in nature...
.
After leaving Tanzania, she volunteered with a
British Red CrossThe British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom branch of the worldwide impartial humanitarian organisation the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with over 31,000 volunteers and 2,600 staff. At the heart of their...
refugee unit; earned a certificate in Peace Studies from
Coventry UniversityCoventry University is a post-1992 university in Coventry, West Midlands, England. Under the terms of the Further and Higher Education Act of 1992, the institution's name was changed from Coventry Polytechnic to Coventry University...
; and got a job as a fund-raiser for a seafarer's charity in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
.
Elizabeth Jane Kucinich (née
Harper; born October 22, 1977 in
North OckendonNorth Ockendon is an outlying settlement of northeast London, England and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east northeast of Charing Cross and consists of a dispersed settlement within the metropolitan green belt. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Essex,...
,
HaveringThe London Borough of Havering is a London borough in East London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in Havering is Romford and the other main communities are Hornchurch, Upminster and Rainham. The borough is mainly characterised by suburban development with large areas of...
,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
) is the wife of
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Congressman and former Democratic Presidential candidate
Dennis KucinichDennis John Kucinich is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives and was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2004 and 2008 elections....
. They married on August 21, 2005.
Background
Born
Elizabeth Harper, she was brought up in
North OckendonNorth Ockendon is an outlying settlement of northeast London, England and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east northeast of Charing Cross and consists of a dispersed settlement within the metropolitan green belt. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Essex,...
in the
London Borough of HaveringThe London Borough of Havering is a London borough in East London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in Havering is Romford and the other main communities are Hornchurch, Upminster and Rainham. The borough is mainly characterised by suburban development with large areas of...
. In 1996 she went to Agra, India, to volunteer at one of
Mother TeresaMother Teresa , born Agnesë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu , was an Albanian Roman Catholic nun with Indian citizenship who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata , India in 1950...
's homes for
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
's poorest children. Upon earning her bachelor's and master's degrees at the
University of Kent at CanterburyThe University of Kent is a plate glass campus university in Kent, England.-Name:The university's original name, chosen in 1962, was the University of Kent at Canterbury, reflecting the fact that the campus straddled the boundary between the county borough of Canterbury and Kent County Council...
, she spent 16 months in a rural
TanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in central East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.The United...
n village and worked as an advocate for
regional developmentRegional development is the provision of aid and other assistance to regions which are less economically developed. Regional development may be domestic or international in nature...
.
After leaving Tanzania, she volunteered with a
British Red CrossThe British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom branch of the worldwide impartial humanitarian organisation the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with over 31,000 volunteers and 2,600 staff. At the heart of their...
refugee unit; earned a certificate in Peace Studies from
Coventry UniversityCoventry University is a post-1992 university in Coventry, West Midlands, England. Under the terms of the Further and Higher Education Act of 1992, the institution's name was changed from Coventry Polytechnic to Coventry University...
; and got a job as a fund-raiser for a seafarer's charity in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. Her volunteer work often brought her to the
House of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". Parliament comprises the Sovereign, the House of Commons , and the Lords...
. At that time she heard financial analyst
Stephen ZarlengaStephen A. Zarlenga is director of the American Monetary Institute, an institute dedicated to monetary reform in the United States. He is the author of The Lost Science of Money, a study of monetary history and monetary reform.-External links:*...
speak about
monetary reformMonetary reform describes any movement or theory that proposes a different system of supplying money and financing the economy than the current system.Monetary reformers may advocate any of the following, among other proposals:...
. She was impressed and soon was hired to become Zarlenga's assistant at the
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
-based
American Monetary InstituteThe American Monetary Institute is a non-profit charitable trust organized in 1996 for the "independent study of monetary history, theory and reform."Its research results are published in Director Stephen Zarlenga's 736 page book, .-External links:* *...
. That work took her and Zarlenga to Dennis Kucinich's office.
She married Dennis Kucinich in 2005, in his hometown of
Cleveland, OhioCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border...
.
The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
noted that one of her
heroA hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
ines is
Diana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. Their sons, Princes William and Harry, are second and third in line to the thrones of the United Kingdom and fifteen other Commonwealth Realms.A public figure from the announcement of her engagement to Prince Charles, Diana...
, partly for her bringing "
compassionCompassion is a human emotion prompted by the pain of others. More vigorous than empathy, the feeling commonly gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another's suffering. It is often, though not inevitably, the key component in what manifests in the social context as altruism...
back into public life." She is noted as having her tongue pierced with a silver stud. Like her husband Dennis, Elizabeth is a vegan.
Education
She attended
Coopers' Company and Coborn SchoolThe Coopers' Company and Coborn School is a 11-18 school in Upminster, in the London Borough of Havering.The school is a non-selective voluntary aided state comprehensive school describe by Ofsted as "an exceptional school of real excellence". The school excels at Performing Arts and Sports...
in
UpminsterUpminster is a suburban town in northeast London, England and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential...
,
EssexEssex is a county in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. The county town of Essex is Chelmsford.-History:In pre-Roman Britain the territories of Suffolk and Essex were home to the Trinovantes tribe, which had grown wealthy through intensive trade with the Roman Empire, contemporary...
, from 1989 to 1996.
She studied at the
University of Kent at CanterburyThe University of Kent is a plate glass campus university in Kent, England.-Name:The university's original name, chosen in 1962, was the University of Kent at Canterbury, reflecting the fact that the campus straddled the boundary between the county borough of Canterbury and Kent County Council...
from 1997 to 2001 and graduated with a BA in Religious Studies and Theology and a Master's degree in International Conflict Analysis. Her
thesisA dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for a degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
for her master's was on "Conflict Resolution in World Politics."
External links